


You Should See Me In A Crown

by Natalie_Carson



Series: I Do Love Nothing In The World So Much As You [4]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Probably more angst, The Selection AU, alternative universe, cute moments, royal, royal bachelor au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 47,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natalie_Carson/pseuds/Natalie_Carson
Summary: Fifteen girls, twelve weeks, one crown. 14 of those girls have been training their entire life for the competition of a lifetime while Amy is thrown in the deep end into the lavish life of royalty. Will she be able to convince the kingdom that she is Queen worthy and convince Prince Jake that she should be his future wife?





	1. And It Turned Into A Ballroom Blitz

Amy took a deep breath. In one out one she repeated over and over again in her mind begging her lungs to understand. She had done this a thousand times before at this point. Yet this one somehow seemed different. This was the last time she would walk through these doors before she would know if she was going to be Jake’s future wife or not. 

“Miss Amelia Santiago of Waterdale.” The voice called out and the main doors were opened wide. Amy put a smile on her face as she walked into the ballroom. There was applause from people sitting at tables as she made her way down the aisle. 

Jake was standing at the end a wide smile on her face. When she came to him she did the best courtesy she could manage in the ridiculous big dress. “Your majesty.” she said cringing on the inside. From Jake’s face she could tell that he was doing the same thing. So formal. So unlike them. He was just Jake to her. Plain old Jake. 

“Amy.” Jake said.

“I think you mean Miss Amelia.”

“My bad. _Miss Amelia._ ” Jake said a teasing smirk on his face.

Amy was about to say something else when the same voice called out “Miss Elizabeth of Fallhills” Amy turned around to watch Elizabeth float down the aisle like a pageant queen. She smiled at Jake before moving out of the way. 

“Amy!” Terry called out from a table. Amy made her way over sitting down next to Terry watching Elizabeth laugh at something Jake said. It was a fake laugh which was perfect for a girl as fake as Elizabeth. “How are you feeling about tomorrow night?”

Amy kept her eyes on Elizabeth and the way she put her hand on Jake’s shoulder. Amy knew that they had the same amount of time yet it felt like Elizabeth had been up there for ages. “I don’t know. I’ve tried my hardest, isn’t that all that counts?”

“No that’s not all that counts. You need to win that crown tomorrow. Not only for yourself but for you family, me and the country. A lot of people have a lot riding on you winning tomorrow.”

“I don’t really care as long as he’s happy.” Amy said taking her eyes off of Jake and down to the meal placed in front of her. “That’s really all I care about at this point.”

“I think that you’re going to win. Look at the way he looks at you.” Terry said glancing up at Jake and meeting his eyes for a second before Jake turned his attention back to the next girl that was in front of him. “He’s always watching you. And I mean _always_ . It’s clear for almost everyone to see that you’re the girl he’s going to chose tomorrow.”

“Yeah but am I good enough to be Queen?” Amy asked Terry seriously. “This isn’t just about him. It should be but it’s not. This is more about the crown than it is who he wants to marry.”

“I agree it’s about the crown more than anything. But this a traditional ceremony, they can’t just get rid of it now, not when we’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. Back then it was only about the crown, but now I do think that he has more of a say on which girl he really loves.” 

“I don’t know about that. Look at the King and Queen now. King Roger doesn't love Queen Karen.” 

“The Queen loves her husband very much.” Amy arched her eyebrows waiting for him to counter on the king loving her part but nothing came. There was nothing to say. Roger didn’t love Karen, he married Karen because she made a good queen. “Jake isn’t like his father.” Terry said after a moment. 

“No. He's not.” Amy agreed going back to her food. Moments later there was tapping on a champagne glass as the Queen stood in the front of the room. 

“Hello everyone.” She said with a warm smile. Amy risked a glance over at Jake but he was staring straight ahead listening to his mother as she spoke. “As everyone knows, tonight is sadly the last night of the Royal Selection.” There were sighs from people in the crowd as they realized life would soon go back to normal. “I know” Karen continued with a sight laugh. “I’m just as sad as you. These weeks are always my favorite.”

“Throughout the past twelve weeks, fifteen girls here have showed us qualities that they deem worthy of being Queen as well as wife to my son, Jacob. All of the girls we’ve hosted have been wonderful in so many ways and I hate to say it but only one of you will get to stay with our family.” Amy glanced around at several of the other girls. She could tell by the looks on their faces that they all were convinced that they were going to get chosen tomorrow. 

“I still remember the day I was chosen like it was yesterday. It was one of the best moments of my life. I still wake up grateful every single day that Roger chose me.” Karen smiled back warmly at her husband. He returned the smile but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “This time tomorrow one of you will be the new Princess of Summerhill and then we get into the really fun stuff. Wedding planning.” there was laughter amongst the crowd and Amy couldn’t help but smile thinking about planning a wedding with Jake.

“With that being said I would like to open the floor up to my son. Each girl will get one last dance with the prince while one girl will get to dance with the prince for the rest of her life. So Jacob if you would come up here you can chose the first girl.”

“I would like to call Sophia up for the first dance.” Amy looked down at her pasta twirling a piece of fettuccine around her fork. Even she had to admit, Charles made a mean fettuccine.

“It’s okay.” Terry said reassuringly. “It’s the last dance that matters.” Amy only nodded. When she felt brave enough she glanced up and saw Jake spin Sophia around in a big circle. She was far more graceful and elegant than Amy could even dream of being. Her blue sparkly dress screamed Queen material while Amy felt like she looked like a little girl who raided mommy’s closet. 

Eventually all the girls had gone except for Amy and Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked over at Amy with a snarky smirk as Jake made his way back to the mic to call the next girl. “You’re next.” Elizabeth mouthed at Amy.

“Next I would like to invite Elizabeth out to the stage.” Amy looked down at her lap with a small smile as Elizabeth made her way to the front of the room clearly fuming. 

“See!” Terry whispered to Amy. “You got the last dance, that has to mean something.” Amy continued to smile down at her food. Gina once told her that she has to tell herself that she wanted whatever the outcome was. That way she wouldn’t be upset or disappointed. Truth is though, Amy wanted this, him, badly.

“And lastly I would like to call Amy to the stage.” Amy set her fork down making her way across the ballroom. She couldn’t help but smile at the nasty look Elizabeth gave her when they crossed paths. “Hi.” Jake said when she was close enough to hear him.

“Hi.” She said putting her hand in his and the other over his shoulder. “Aren’t you tired of dancing?” She asked and Jake swore that her eyes twinkled ever so slightly.

“Yeah.” He said laughing. “But I’m pretty used to it at this point. You wanna try a spin?”

“No. It never ends well.” 

“Come on you can do it. I believe in you.”

“Fine.” Amy said as she let him twirl her around in an elegant circle before rejoining him. “Did it look bad?”

“No, you looked gorgeous.” Jake replied. “I can’t believe how much better you are this than you were a mere twelve weeks ago.”

“Well you have to get pretty good at it around here.”

“That’s true.” Jake said. “I just hope you don’t regret doing this. I would hate for you to wish that you hadn’t spent twelve weeks here.”

“Are you kidding me?” Amy asked him. “I’m not going to regret it. I’m glad that I came back and even if you don’t chose me tomorrow, I”m not going to leave again. Leaving all those years ago was wrong. I’m not going to do that again.”

“Yeah?” Jake asked smiling down at her.

“Yeah.” She confirmed. 

“Well I can’t tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow, but everything will be okay. You just have to trust me.” Jake said as the music stopped. He dropped her hand and she curtsied before walking back to Terry. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen that includes this evening.” The Queen said into the mic. “We will see you guys all tomorrow for the big announcement. Have a good night.” Everyone in the room quickly rushed towards the exit. Some of the girls tried to make their way towards Jake but Amy stayed where she was. 

She watched Sophia try to talk to Jake before Elizabeth pushed her out of the way. “Hey.” Gina said startling Amy out of her transfixation. Gina was now sitting in the chair next to her that Terry had abandon at some point.

“Hi.” Amy said back trying to not watch Jake out of the corner of her eye. “Do you have any idea who he is going to pick tomorrow?” If Jake’s told anyone it would be Gina aur Charles. 

Gina took a deep breath as if she was almost nervous about his decision. “I don’t think it's going to matter, but if it means anything I hope he chooses you. Your the only one he cares about.”

“So why would he not chose me?” 

“Mom and dad want him to pick someone suited to be queen.”

“Oh.” Amy said trying to not sound as if she was admitting defeat.

“Yeah.” Gina agreed. “But it really is his choice. So he may decide to screw it and choose you. You’re the one who we all want him to chose. Me and Charles at least. Never thought I would say that I hope he ends up with you but here we are.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m not saying that you’re fit to be queen, because I don’t think you are at all.”

“Thanks Gina.” Amy said trying to cut the girl off.

“But you’re the only one here is fit to be his wife. I mean look around. None of these girls know Jake nor does Jake no any of them. Like I said before, you’re the only he cares about. I should go though, I hate being this real with people.” Gina said before getting up and walking away.

By now almost the whole ballroom was cleared out and Jake was nowhere to be seen. Amy thought about stopping by his room but decided best of it. He probably wouldn't want to see her right now, he did have a lot on his plate after all. 

So she made her way back to her room and the big fluffy bed. She honestly hoped he picked her just so she could sleep in a bed like this for the rest of her life. If he didn’t pick her, by this time tomorrow she would be back in the three bedroom house with seven people living in it. Sharing a room with her three brothers and eating mom’s burnt macaroni. Not that she was complaining, she loved her family very much, but this bed was just so damn comfortable. 

Amy closed her eyes tight and tried to not think of the two drastically different outcomes of tomorrow. Each one would send her life an entirely different direction and the only person who could decide was Jake Peralta.


	2. Something In My Mind's Not Making Sense

**Twelve Weeks Earlier**

“Jacob.” Holt said upon Jake walking into the small office. “You are twenty minutes late.”

“Yeah yeah.” Jake said sitting down in the chair across from Holt. “What else is new? Is the sky still blue?”

Raymond only rolled his eyes. He could scold the prince tell him that’s not very ‘king like’ but that never got anywhere in the past. So instead he decided to just let it go today. “I assume you know why you’re here?”

“Yeah. I gotta tell you what I’m looking for in a girl so you can go and find the next queen. Here’s the thing though, I don’t really care about the queen, I just want to be actually happy with someone.”

“Yes. I’m aware.” Holt said. “You’ve made it very clear that you don’t care about the crown.” Jake just shrugged his shoulders. “The goal here is to find someone that you actually like as well as will be a good queen. You need to keep an open mind however.”

“Great.” Jake said. “Can we just start the questions. Charles is making baked mac and cheese and I kind of want it while it’s hot.”

“Alright.” Holt said pulling out a large stack of paperwork. “Do you smoke?”

“That’s the first question?” Jake asked partly shocked.

“Yes and the next when is how often do you drink?”

“No I don’t smoke and maybe a beer a week.” Holt nodded writing things down on his paper. 

“What are you passionate about?” 

“I don’t know!” Jake said. “That’s so open ended. I like playing chess but I’m really bad at it. Like terrible at it.” Holt nodded. “I like to take pictures just around town. For fun you know. Um. I like to listen to music, wish I could write it but that seems a little out there for me.”

“Okay that’s good thank you.” Holt said jotting things that Jake said down on the paper. “What are some things you enjoy doing in your leisure time?”

“I like walking around the grounds. Sounds lame, but it’s kind of nice. Fencing is fun same with horseback riding. Gina likes to ride horses and I go with her sometimes.”

“Okay.” Holt said. “What are some things that your thankful for?”

“God these questions are awful.” Jake said. “Do I have to do them?” Holt only nodded his head. “I guess Gina and Charles. Mom and Dad. And maybe that I’m getting to live like these. I don’t think people living on the grounds really realize how lucky they are.”

“They definitely don’t.” Holt agreed. “I wish that more of them did like you do. Alright now we’re going to go through what kind of girl you are looking for. Do you have an age range?”

“Uh twenty one to thirty maybe?” Jake said although it came out as a question. He was only 23. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to get married yet. 21 seemed awfully young to get married, but he also didn’t want to be married to someone too much older than him.

“Okay. We used to ask about specific type, but it’s just not really necessary anymore.”

“That’s fine.” Jake said. “I don’t really care as long as she is nice.” Holt gave him a rare smile before glancing back down at his papers. 

“Alright now we are going to do the compatibility test. I’m going to say a word and you can tell me if that somewhat, not at all, or fully describes you.” Jake nodded his understandment and waited for Holt to speak. “Warm.” 

“I guess fully.”

“Clever.” 

“Definitely fully.”

“Dominant?” 

Jake scrunched his face up for a second thinking. “I guess somewhere between somewhat and not at all.”

“Outgoing?”

“Somewhere between somewhat and fully.”

“Stable?”

“Somewhat.”

“Energetic?”

“Fully.” 

“Predictable?”

“Not at all.”

“And lastly affectionate?”

“Fully.”

“Alright so that is actually all of the questions. See it’s not that bad.” Holt said. 

“So what are you going to do with that?” Jake asked looking over the desk at the paper.

“Girls from all over the island will submit applications with these questions. I’ll match them up to yours and find fifteen girls that are going to be a good match. Bring them in an interview them just to make sure. And then they get to go on and live in the castle for twelve weeks while you decide which one you want to marry.”

“Do you ever think about how messed up this system is?”

“No.” Holt said. “I’ve been specifically trained to pick out the next queen and your wife. I will already know which girl you will chose before you even meet her.”

“How is that even possible.”

“Can’t tell.” Holt said. “But it’s worked every time. I knew that your father would pick your mother. And I’ll know which girl you are going to pick.”

“I want to actually love her.” Jake said. “I want to be so in love that I can’t even think straight.”

“I know.” Holt said. “I will take it into consideration. You need not to be worried about it. Have I ever disappointed you before?” Jake was silent as he racked his brain. There had to be something yet for some reason he was coming up blank. 

“Okay.” Jake said standing up out of his chair. “Have a good day then.”

“You as well.” Holt said as Jake left the office and closed the door behind him.

\----

“Get out!” Amy screamed at her brother from the shower as he barged into the shared bathroom. “I called the shower.”

“Fine.” Antonio huffed walking out of the bathroom but she could hear him call down the hall. “Mom this isn’t fair. Why does she even still live here.” Amy rolled her eyes stepping out of the shower and putting on clean clothes.

“It’s all yours Tony.” She shouted making her way to the kitchen. As he walked past her he gave her a nasty look and she shoved his shoulder ever so slightly. She sat down at the kitchen table and was greeted with her parent’s smiling faces. “Why do you look so happy.”

“Look what just came in the mail!” Her mother exclaimed sliding a piece of paper across the table. The words Princess Selection on the top in bold.

“No.” Amy said wrinkling her face up in disgust. “That’s gross that they still do that. This isn’t the bachelor.”

“You’re right it’s not. Those girls only win the man, these girls will win a crown.” Amy rolled her eyes. 

“Look.” her mother said sliding the add back across the table. Amy didn’t bother to pick it up or look at it. “He’s looking for a girl exactly like you. All of these things listed perfectly describe you.”

“Why would I want to go to the castle and compete with fifteen other girls for boy and a crown that I don’t want.”

“If you get selected, even to just participate than we get a check each week that you’re gone.” Her dad said. “A pretty big check too.”

“You know how much we need that money.”

“You’re pretty much marrying off your only daughter for money. You get that right?” Amy asked half not believing what they were telling her right now. She didn’t care how much money that check was for, she wasn’t going to show her face at that castle anytime soon.

“Amy. You know that we need the money. Look around.” Her mom said. “I’m not even sure that we’re going to be able to have lunch today. It’s not like we’re just marrying you off. If you were to win we would still see you a lot.”

“You would probably have a pretty good chance of winning.”

“No.” Amy said firmly. “I can’t go back. I just won’t.” She stood up from the table and stormed off to her shared bedroom. The two other people who she shared it with were unfortunately there at the moment. She threw herself down on her bed and tried to ignore their conversation.

\-----

_“I think I’m going to have to leave.” Amy said to Gina in a whisper. She was terrified that at any second Jake would come around the corner and hear her. Then she would have to say goodbye to him and that is exactly what she was hoping to avoid._

_“What do you mean you think you have to leave?” Gina asked in the same whisper as Amy._

_“It’s Teddy. He got fired.”_

_“Yeah because he sucks at his job. He should’ve been fired.” Gina said bitterly and honestly she had every right to be bitter Amy knew that. Teddy was at fault. He should have done a full sweep of the building before he let Jake into that bar._

_“I know.” She whispered even lower than before. “But he can’t live on the grounds anymore. He bought a house out in the village. I have to go.”_

_“What are you going to tell Jake?”_

_Amy shook her head. “I can’t tell him. Can you give him this?” Amy asked handing Gina an envelope. “Tell him that I’m sorry but everything happened so fast.”_

_“Why can’t you tell him yourself?”_

_“I don’t think I can. I can’t stand the way I know he’ll look at me with those puppy dog eyes.” A guard that Amy didn’t recognize came up behind them. He put his hand on Amy’s shoulder as a signal to it being time to go. “Just tell him I’m sorry and that I hope he understands.” Amy said as she turned her back away on her friend._

_The guard walked her to the gate of the place where she walked out alone. She turned around and took one last glance at the large castle where she had spent almost everyday of her childhood. When she turned back around Teddy was standing there hand held out, warm smile on his face._

\----

“I’m starving.” She heard her youngest brother Robert say.

“Eh you’ll get used to it.” Antonio replied. Amy buried her head in her hands taking a deep breath. She walked out of her room where her parents were both sitting at the table quietly whispering to each other.

“What makes you think that Jake would even want to see me?” She asked sitting down at the table.

“Well we don’t know.” Her mom said. “If you don’t want to do it then you don’t have to. We aren’t going to force you into anything. It’s just that a little extra money would be nice right now.” Amy reached across the table grabbing the flyer. There was an application attached to it. 

“Okay.” She said thinking about all of her younger siblings. They couldn’t grow up like this. It wasn’t fair to them. She may not be able to fix the problem but maybe she could help. Amy grabbed a pen off the table and began filling out the form.

\-----

Two weeks later Amy’s mom came into the house with a ripped envelope and a big smile on her face. “Guess who’s going to be the next queen of Summerhills!” She exclaimed handing Amy the envelope.

Amy opened the already torn open envelope and pulled out the letter telling her that she was invited to spend twelve weeks in the palace with fifteen other girls competing for Jake’s heart. Or for some of them, the crown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a baby chapter I know, not the most exciting, but I promise the next chapter will start getting into the actual selection :)


	3. And I Know That You Claim That You're Alright

Amy feels something in her chest tighten as she makes her way to the castle. In the front seat of the car she can hear her parents talking although none of the words register with her. The only thing she could think about was Jake and what he was going to think of her being back. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him in five years. Granted she had seen him on the front page of the paper or on their one tv but that didn’t really count.

“Amy honey.” her mother said turning around to look at Amy. It was then that she realized the car was no longer moving and they were parked in front of a large gate. “You have to get out now.”

Amy took a deep breath and gathered her things from the backseat. “Good luck!” Her dad said to her as she climbed out of the car. “Remember that we aren’t going to be mad at you no matter how this ends. Also we love you very much and are going to miss you.” 

“Yeah.” Amy said. She felt like her throat was going to close from suffocation. “I’ll see you guys in twelve weeks or whatever.”

“Love you!” Her mother called as they pulled away and Amy made her way to the gate.

“Amelia Santiago.” A guard said when he saw her standing on the other side of the gate. The gate opened and Amy walked back onto the grounds for the first time in five years. She felt like that young dumb in love teenager she was the last time she was here. “I’m surprised you’re brave enough to show your face around here again.”

“You and I both Carl.” Amy said. In another life this would be the part where she talks about it being good to be home. But this is not her home and it does not feel good to be here.

\-----

Jake stood in his parents room looking out the large window. He could see all the girls pouring into the palace. There were only fifteen of them yet it somehow seemed like there were thousands of them to Jake. He could hear his parents talking in the background but he wasn’t listening. His eyes swept over the wall and out into the city. He liked to imagine the lives off all the other men who were out there getting to flirt with any girl that they wanted. They didn’t have to be so propper. If they wanted to go and get drunk and have a one night stand, then what was to stop them? Jake on the other hand, well let’s just say all hell would come loose if he had a one night stand. 

The doors were swung open and the sound of laughter filled the small room. There were two women laughing before the one stopped releasing what they had just walked into. Jake turned around at the sudden change in the room and saw his sister trying to hold back her laugher. Her guard doing the same. 

“Nice of you to show up Gina.” King Roger said as he sat down on the couch. “I thought that we went over the fact that she’s supposed to be on time for things Rosa.” He said addressing her guard.

“I’m sorry your majesty.” Rosa said putting her head down in the corner of the room. Jake always felt kind of bad for her. Unlike his guards, he had always kind of liked Rosa. She seemed far more down to Earth than the other’s. Plus she let Gina actually live a little. His would never let him do that. 

“We were just talking about your brother and the suitors that are making their way to the palace right now.” Queen Karen said filling the silence. “We’re very excited to meet them tomorrow.”

“Me too.” Gina agreed glancing at Jake who refused to meet her eyes. “I talked to a couple of them as they were making their way in. They seemed nice.”

“You talked to some of the girls?” Roger asked her clearly annoyed. “You know that you aren’t supposed to talk them until tomorrow morning.”

“I know. It just seemed rude to not acknowledge their presence today. I would be pissed if I came all the way here and didn’t even get acknowledged.”

“Language.” Karen scolded her daughter. “That is not the way a Princess talks.” Jake rolled his eyes and went back to looking out the window. 

“Jacob.” His father said snapping him away from the window once again. Gina was now seated on the edge of the bed playing with the ends of her hair not a care in the world. Right now he was feeling pretty jealous of her. He had been for almost his entire life. She never had as much responsibility on her shoulders. She was never going to be queen, but yet he was born into this whole King role. He knew that she wished that she could be Queen but he never understood why. 

“It’s important that you choose a girl who is capable of being Queen.” Karen nodded along with what her husband was saying. “Holt says that all of these girls are, but some of them are still a better choice than other. You need to pick someone who is going to be able to rule this island beside you when your mother and I are gone. The love part of it should come second to being a good queen.”

Jake tried his hardest not to roll his eyes. He had been yelled at that one two many times by his dad and he really wasn't it in the mood to hear it today. “Your father is right. All of these girls here will love you. They probably already do and they haven’t even met you. But they can not learn how to be a good Queen. It’s something that they are either born with or not.”

Jake bit his tongue from screaming at them that those girls don’t really love him, they just love the crown and the money. He tried not to scream about how even if they did love him it was unfair of him to choose a girl he didn’t love. Not only for her but also for him. “Jacob. Do you understand?” his father asked harshly after a moment where he hadn’t said anything.

“Yes.” Jake said. “May I please go?” The king nodded and Jake made his way out of the room followed by Gina, Rosa and his guard Carter. 

“Are you serious right now?” Gina asked running to catch up with him. “You’re just going to let them talk to you like that?”

“What else was I supposed to say. They’re just going to yell at me anyways. Why not just walk away.” 

“I guess. That’s not really the way I like to play it but if it works for you.”

“It does.” 

“Are you nervous to meet these girls?” Gina asked. “The ones that I talked to seemed really nice. They were pretty too.” She said nudging him in the arm slightly. “I can’t wait till I get to choose between fifteen hot guys. I mean you are living every guys dream right now.”

Gina was right. He was living the dream of any frat boy, but he hated this. He just wanted a small house and wife he loved. Maybe a dog and in a couple of years a kid. A kid that wouldn’t be the future King or Queen of Summerhills. “I don’t really care.” He said. “I’m going to go to the kitchen. Charles is making baked mac and cheese again.” 

\------

The chair was uncomfortable. They were in the freaking place and yet they were sitting in foldable chairs. How ironic she thought. The girls around her were all positively glowing, each one thinking that they had a shot at the prince. Which technically they did. Looking around the room though, Amy could just tell that none of these girls were Jake’s type. They were all far too obnoxious and obsessing over being in the palace. 

“Hi!” One girl said extending her hand to Amy. “You look just as afraid to be here as I feel. I’m Sophia.” Amy smiled and shock the girls hand.

“Amy.” She said. At least she was friendly. Amy knew that they weren’t all going to be like that. Looking around the room she could already tell who was going to be a pain in the ass and who might make this enjoyable. At least some of they will put on a good show. 

“So why you here?” Sophia asked and Amy almost laughed at how stupid of a question that was. Why was she here? Weren’t they all here for the same reason. They all either wanted the prince or the crown. Or in her case her family wanted money.

“Oh you know the chance to find true love.” Amy lied. She figured it was in her best interest to not let everyone know that she didn’t want to be here. That may get her kicked out before the thing even really starts. Hell being Amy Santiago may get her kicked her out before it starts. “What about you?”

“Same.” Sophia said. “The prince is really cute and he seems really nice to me. So I figured why not try?”

“He is really nice.” Amy said a smile on her face remembering some of the more fond memories the two of them had. “I assume.” She added after realizing what she said. It scared her slightly that he could remember her entirely different than she remembered him. His memories of her could be tainted by the way she left things.

An older woman that Amy didn't recognize walked into the room and stood in front of the girls clapping her hands once. “Listen up.” She shouted and the room feel silent. “As you all know siting in this room alone is a great honor for each and every one of you. Now one of you in this room will be crowned the next Queen of Summerhills. You could be sitting right next to her, or maybe it’s even you.” The girls are looked around the room each one of them with a large smile on their faces.

“This so exciting.” Sophia whispered to Amy and Amy only smiled and nodded. She felt like she was going to be sick.

\-----

_“You don’t want to be king?” Amy asked him. Jake grabbed onto another branch and climbed up even higher into the tree. “Where are you going?”_

_“Higher.” Jake responded. Amy stood up and climbed a couple of branches higher. When she glanced down though she knew that she wasn’t going to go any higher than this._

_“Jake. Can we not go any higher?” He glanced down at her, one foot already on the next branch._

_“I guess.” Jake said sitting down on the branch across from Amy. His guard, Toby, was standing below. Jake never even really noticed Toby anymore, not after being followed around constantly for ten years straight. But he knew that Amy was always very aware of Toby following them and listening to their conversation._

_“You don’t want to be king?” Amy repeated._

_“Do we have to talk about this?”_

_“You’re the one who brought it up.”_

_“I just want to climb this stupid tree.”_

_“And I want to know if you want to be king or not.”_

_“If I tell you will you climb another branch with me?” Amy looked down at the ground for a second hesitation written all over her face._

_“Fine.”_

_“Then no, I don’t want to be King.” Jake said standing up and offering Amy his hand. Amy took it and climbed up another branch with Jake._

_“Don’t let go of me.” She said clinging to the trunk of the tree like it was her last lifeline._

_“I won’t.” Jake said as he climbed up another branch taking Amy with him._

_“Why don’t you want to be king?”_

_“Cause it seems like so much work.” Jake said sighing. “I don’t want to be in charge of everything and everyone. Who would want that?”_

_“Most ten years olds. You psycho. I would love to be in charge of everything.”_

_“Yeah well kings can’t have fun. I’m pretty sure it’s a rule or something. My dad never has fun. Ever. Neither does my mom.”_

_“I guess that’s true.” Amy said as she let herself be pulled up another branch. Her hand was still in Jake’s. “But they’re adults. They probably find different things fun then we do.”_

_“Well that’s stupid.” Jake said. “Oh gross.” Jake said dropping Amy’s hand a second to bat the spider web away from his face. Amy tried to climb a branch higher but her footing slipped. Jake reached to grab her again but it was too late and she was tumbling out of the tree. “Amy!” Jake shouted just as Toby caught her._

_“Alright. Down now.” Toby shouted at Jake. “I’m not going to answer to your dad as to why you are all scraped up.” He set Amy down on the ground._

_“How am I still alive?” She asked Toby._

_“Because you were only like five feet off the ground. You weren’t that high up.” Toby said as Jake made his way down the tree._

_“You’re no fun.” He said to Toby as he stormed back towards the castle leaving Amy to run and catch up with him._

\------

The woman at the front of the room continued talking. “Tomorrow you guys will meet the prince and the royal family for the first time.” Oh God Amy hadn't even thought about seeing them again. How were they going to react to seeing her. “This will be at a large dinner. The entire country will be watching so it is very important that you represent the people of Summerhills there tomorrow.” Amy glanced around at all the girls with large smiles on their faces at the idea of meeting Jake. 

“After that, each week there will be a different activity that we will partake in. You won’t know what it is until the week of so that you can not prepare.” If Amy was being honest that stressed her out. Not so much the not being prepared part, just the uncertainty. She liked to have a clear plan of what was going to happen. “All of you are expected to live on the castle grounds. There are hours every night where you are not permitted to leave your room unless with special permission from someone from the royal family. That is strictly enforced by our royal guards. Really it’s just important that you guys know that you are representing this country at these events. I’m now going to let the media organizers take the stage and get their girls.”

Amy listened to each girl’s name carefully categorizing them into befriend and don’t befriend categories. “Amelia Santiago!” The guy called out from the front of the room. Amy stood up out of her chair and followed him down a series of hallways. She grazed her hand across the wall as they walked. It was fresh coat of paint, so much better than that God awful wallpaper that used to be here.

“I’m Terry by the way.” The man said. “I’m pretty much in charge of helping you get ready for each event and how to manage the press.”

“Did you get to chose me or is it random?”

“I chose you.” Terry said. “Don’t tell the others but I’m definitely the best.” Amy smiled slightly as they stopped by a room. “We all take bets on which girl is going to win. It’s get pretty heated. That being said I have a lot riding on you so you better win.” Terry said laughing.

Amy joined in slight as he opened the door for her. The room was nice, it wasn’t as big as she remembered Jake or Gina’s being, but it was still nice. “Thanks.” She said as she made her way into the room unpacking her bag and putting clothes into the dresser.

Terry sat down on the couch. “Before I leave for the day we are going to go over some proper etiquette stuff. I’m sure it’s stuff that you’ve heard before but I just want to make sure. We can’t have you making the wrong first impression on the King.”

“Does the Queen’s opinion not matter?” Amy asked. “She is his mother after all.”

“Oh it does!” Terry said. “Her opinion definitely matters, but the King is far more vocal about his opinion.” Amy nodded her head in understandment. “So first, how should you address the prince when you meet him tomorrow.”

“Uh. Jake?” 

“What?” Terry screamed at her. “Oh God lord. I’m so glad that I decided to start at the basics with you. You cannot address the prince by his first name. Even I can’t do that.”

“Yeah, but he’s just Jake.”

“Just Jake? You’re making me start to regret choosing you Santiago.”

“I’m not going to call him ‘your royal highness.’ he hates it when people call him that.

“How do you know what the prince does and doesn’t like?” Terry asked her. 

“Uh because I’ve known him for eighteen years.” Amy said.

“Excuse my profanities but holy shit!” Terry exclaimed. “Terry’s crushing it.” Amy laughed slightly. 

“I’m not calling him your royal highness and I’m not curtseying.” Terry took a deep breath and Amy knew that she wasn’t going to like what came out of his mouth next.

“I get it.” He said slowly. “But the entire country is going to be watching you under a microscope tomorrow. While the prince may not care that you call him Jake and don’t courtesy, the rest of the country will. They will see it as disrespect. That’s not going to make you popular.”

“You don’t know how much Jake hates it when people do that. He justs wants to be a normal person.” Amy said.

“But he’s not.” Terry countered. “Call him whatever you want when you’re alone with him. But if you’re in a room with a camera than you better courtesy.” Amy sighed realizing that she wasn’t going to win this argument. “Thank you.” Terry said before continuing. “You have to wear full on formal wear tomorrow. This means big ball gown dress, make up, heels, hair down. The works. When eating you do not eat until the Queen starts. She has to approve the meal before you can eat it.”

“God this is formal.” Amy complained. “It was never like this when we were kids.”

“Did you have a lot of dinners with the queen when you were younger.”

“No.” Amy said. 

“Then it’s different.” Terry said before continuing. “When the Queen is done eating, everyone is done eating. I’ve always heard that her majesty is very good about making sure everyone is done before she is though. You can not leave the table until she is done eating. That’s a big no no.”

“What if I have to use the restroom.”

“Than say excuse me. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going and then come straight back.” Amy nodded. “Don’t leave any lipstick stains on your glass. If the Queen puts her purse on the table that means the dinner is done and something has gone horribly wrong. Don’t make her put her purse on the table. And lastly basic table manners. Don’t chew with your mouth open. Don’t talk with food in your mouth. Don’t use your hands to eat. Basic stuff. Sound good?”

Amy stared at him for a second before nodding. “Yep. Sounds good to me. So are you going to help me pick out a dress and do my hair and stuff because I don’t know how to do any of that.”

“Oh yes. Of course I will help you. I actually already have your dressed picked out. It’s red. I figure that you look really good in red.” 

“Yeah I actually really like red.”

“Good.” Terry said handing her a big red ball gown dress and a pair of high heels that she was never going to be able to walk in. “Now go get dressed. Dinner starts in four hours.”

“You think I need four hours-” Amy started but stopped when she saw the look on Terry’s face. That was the moment that she realized how in trouble she was. This lifestyle of getting so dressed up for dinner was just not her.

The bathroom was larger than her whole house. It was ridiculous large for one person. She had been in the common bathroom downstairs when she was younger but never any of the rooms. The shower alone was larger than her bedroom. She ran her hands across the smooth stone. It sent chills down her spine how cold it was. The bathroom looked like it hadn’t been used in twenty years, yet it was clearly very modern.

She quickly put the dress out and tried not to wince at how girly girl she looked in the mirror. This was going to be her life for the next twelve weeks whether she liked it or not. At least she wasn’t going to have to see Jake tonight. There was a silver lining in this story after all.

“I can’t wear these.” She said walking out the bathroom holding the pair of high heels. She was slightly started to see a woman now sitting on the bed with Terry.

“Amelia, this is my wife Sharon. She’s going to help with the makeup and hair. She’s actually the one who picked out the dress.”

“Hi.” Sharon said. “That dress looks gorgeous on you.” 

“Thank you.” Amy said. “I love it. It’s very pretty. Also please call me Amy.” 

Terry noded. “You have to wear the heels though.” he said. Amy grunted as she sat down in the chair they had left out for her. She put the heels on her feet and strapped them around her ankles.

“So for your makeup I’m thinking we go with something kind of natural.” Sharon said.

“Oh thank God.” Amy said sighing a breath of relief for the first time since she had stepped foot back onto the grounds. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that.”

“That’s great.” Sharon said as she started paying with Amy’s hair. Amy watched her face scrunch up in concentration as she tried to figure out what to do with her hair. “And then I Think a big updo would be nice. Something kind of low key while at the same elegant and flawless.”

“Yes.” Terry said in agreeance. “That would be perfect.” Amy nodded once and watched in the mirror as Sharon did her hair. Being poked with bobby pins was something new and she really wished that she wasn’t going to have to get used to it.

After her hair was done, Sharon stood in front of her to do her makeup. For a natural look it sure did feel like she was putting a ton on there. Including fake eyelashes. In what world did she need fake eyelashes to go to dinner. She wasn’t even meeting Jake. Or the king or Queen for that matter. “Done.” Sharon said stepping away from Amy. She clapped her hands several times. “You look absolutely perfect!” 

When Amy looked at herself in the mirror she couldn't even believe that it was herself. The reflection looking back at her in no way resemble the girl that was sitting here a mere hour ago. “What do you think?” Terry asked.

“I mean.” Amy said not really sure what to say. “It’s not really for me but it definitely looks the part of how the rest of these girls are going to look.”

Sharon noded. “I bet you look better than the rest of those girls though.” She said and Terry agreed. 

“We gotta get you down there. Dinner starts in an hour.”

“Then why do we have to go now?” Amy asked. “It’s not that far of a walk to the dining hall.”

“Yeah but you have to go and socialize with the other girls.” Terry said taking her hand and leading her out of the room. Amy tried to not trip as they made their way throughout the palace. They passed the door that Amy knew was Jake’s. There was a small part of her that wanted to knock and do this awkward re-meeting alone versus in front of the entire country, but she knew she couldn’t.

“It’s important to make friends while you’re here. Show the country that you are civilized person. It’s also good to have allies. Plus it’ll make things slightly more enjoyable. Just remember that everyone in that room will stab you in the back and not even think twice about it if they think it will put them a slot ahead in the prince’s eyes.” Amy nodded. “Also don’t forget table manners.” Terry added as he opened the door for her. “Good luck.”

Amy smiled back at him before walking into the dinner hall that was filled with girls all in big poofy dresses like hers. She took a deep breath and tried to tell herself that she could to do this. 

“Amy!” She heard someone call. Amy turned around and saw the girl from earlier this morning motioning her over towards where she was standing with a couple of girls. Amy slowly made her way over there hoping that she wasn’t about to fall and embarrass herself in front of all these girls who definitely knew how to walk in heels. “I love your dress.” Sophia said once she was with the group.

“Oh thank you!” Amy said. “I love all your guys dresses too. Honestly all of these dresses are beyond gorgeous.” Amy said remembering what Terry said about making friends.

“Aw you are so sweet. But it’s okay you don’t have to lie with us. We all know that Candice's dress is beyond hideous.” one of the other girls said. Amy glanced over to where she was pointing at a girl who was wearing a dress that was barf yellow. It was the hideous thing that Amy had ever seen. She just shrugged her shoulders not wanting to take to hard of a stance one way or another.

“Who do you think the biggest competition here is?” One of the girls that Amy thought she heard someone call Madison asked.

Amy looked around the ballroom although she knew that their biggest competition was probably standing right next to her wearing a pine green dress. “Elizabeth.” The girl named Anna said without any hesitation.

“Which one is she?” Amy asked and looked to where Anna pointed at the girl wearing the bright pink dress. She was laughing obnoxiously so at one of the other girl’s jokes. She was exactly what Amy had pictured all these girls would be like. That girl was definitely not the biggest competition. They didn’t know it yet, but there was no way in hell that Jake would be into that. She was a textbook example of the kind of girl he always turned down when they were teenagers.

“Nah.” Sophia said waving her hand to dismiss that. “Sure she’s got the whole acting like Queen thing down, but she’s mean. People will see right through the whole little act. Eventually she will show her true colors and then it will all start collapsing around her.” Amy nodded kind of impressed by Sophia’s statement. That was exactly what was going to happen to that girl. 

“Dinner!” Amy heard an all to familiar voice call out. She spun around almost on instinct and saw Charles Boyle setting out food on a large table. Before she could stop herself her feet were moving towards him. Her brain was screaming that this was a bad idea but her feet had a mind of their own.

He glanced up and made eye contact with her dropping the plate of breadsticks on the ground. The sound of the plate shattering on the floor was deafening. All the girls stopped their talking to stare at the small man who had disrupted them.

Amy bent down on the floor as gracefully as she could. She started helping him gather up the breadsticks off the floor. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Well I thought that was pretty obvious given this stupid dress.” Charles glanced up at her for a second and she found herself holding her breath. He was the one that was going to be the nicest to her. He was the only one she hadn’t been worried about seeing. Gina will be pissed and Jake is going to be fuming. 

“He’s not going to be happy to see you.” Charles said after a moment. “Especially dressed like this.” He added gesturing down to the red dress. 

“I know.” Amy said grabbing the last breadstick off the floor. “Will you tell him that I’m here. I don’t want him to be surprised when he sees me tomorrow.”

“I’m not allowed to tell him anything about the girls.”

“Well I’m not just one of the girls.” Amy said. “It’s a little different.” Charles looked at her, hesitation written across his face. 

“I don’t want to be the one to break it to him that you’re back after five years of not speaking to him. After just leaving him with no explanation as to why.” 

“There’s was a note.”

“You think a note is a good enough explanation for his childhood best friend vanishing out of thin air? You owed him a face to face explanation and he never got one. But now that you’re back maybe he will. If you even get a chance to talk to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get kicked out tomorrow afternoon.” Charles said as he stood up off the floor. He was about to walk away when instead he held out his hand to help Amy out. “Jake aside, I’m glad that you’re back. I’ve missed you.” 

Amy smiled sadly at him as he walked away to the kitchen to get another thing of breadsticks. Amy then walked around the table until she found a seat with her name on the card. “Hi!” The girl who was seated next to her said as Amy sat down. “I’m Kylie.”

“Amy.” She said politely smiling.

“That was really nice of you to help that guy clean up the breadsticks. Some of these girls have their heads so far up their own asses they wouldn’t even think to help out someone.” Amy genuinely laughed at that. 

“That’s true.” She said smiling. 

“So what brings you here?” Kylie asked and Amy wondered why everyone was asking her that. Was it written on her face that she clearly didn’t want to be here?

“If I’m being honest.” She started feeling that she could trust Kylie already. She seemed pretty down to Earth. “I’m kind of here because my family needs the money. I don’t expect to win, I’m not even sure that I want to win. But while I’m here they get daily paychecks.”

“Oh my gosh.” Kylie said and Amy wondered for a brief second if she made the wrong choice. “That’s like exactly why I’m here. Finally someone who isn’t so power hungry.” Amy laughed. “I mean I kind of would like to win though because have you seen the prince? I mean that man is attractive.”

“Yeah.” Amy said. She couldn’t deny that Jake was attractive. Anyone with eyes could see that. It just felt strange to say it outloud. It brought back all sorts of memories of being that cliche teenager who was in love with her best friend but couldn't act on it. That was before she realized what love really was. That feeling of being high but knowing that the low was yet to come. 

More food was sat down in front of her and Amy ate it with the best manners that she could manage. She continued talking with Kylie while also listening to the other girls speak. It was insane to Amy that Holt had chosen these girls for Jake. There was no way that the Jake she knew was going to like any of them. Then again he may not be the Jake she knew anymore. And that was the scariest thought of the evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest, I did not proof read this so hopefully there are no major errors. Also hopefully it wasn't too long, it's the longest chapter I've written so far.


	4. Not A Single Day Goes By Where You Don't Cross My Mind

Amy laid awake in the large bed staring at the ceiling. The silence was unnerving. At this point she was so used to falling asleep to the sound of two boys yelling at each other that the silence felt deafening. A million different thoughts were going through her mind and yet they all somehow came back to Jake.

Charles’s words were echoing in her mind on repeat. “He’s not going to be happy to see you. Especially dressed like this.” He was a hundred percent right. If there was someway she could go back in time she never would have submitted the stupid application. At least then she wouldn't be lying awake going through hypothetical situations of what could happen tomorrow. She’s been through thousands and she hasn't liked any of them.

So she climbed out of the very comfortable warm bed and made her way to the door. She didn’t have a plan, but there was no way that she could spend another second in this room. Sure they weren’t allowed to leave, but these girls wouldn’t even know where to go if they did leave. She knew exactly where to go.

Which is how she found herself wandering up and down palace corridors that she knew no one would be at. These were the halls that they used to roam when they were younger. They used to bike down them as fast as they could yelling last one at the end is a rotten egg. Gina would sometimes try, and fail, to do cartwheels are the way with no stopping. The wallpaper back here was the same. Even the hideous carpet was still in place. It was a small but comforting fact. Not everything has changed around here. 

“Amy?” She heard a voice call out. She wiped her head around to where the sound came from. This was her life now. Hearing a ghost of the past call out to her only to realize that they weren't ghosts anymore. They were very very real. “What are you doing here.”

Amy started at the girl in front of her not even sure how to really answer. “I uh.”

“Oh my gosh.” Gina said quickly putting two and two together. “No.” She shook her head several times and Amy was convinced that she too was trying to tell herself that this wasn’t real. “You can’t be here. What do you think that Jake is going to say?”

“Trust me that’s been my number one question as well.” Gina put her hands up to her head and held her head for a second.

“You should not be here. You can not be here. Not after everything you put him through. Oh my gosh he’s going to go through it all again.” Gina said running a hand through her hair. 

_“Jake?” Gina asked softly taping on his door. When there was no answer she opened the door and saw her older brother standing on his balcony overlooking the entire city. “Jake?” She asked again as she made her way towards him. He didn’t even bother to turn around._

_The November air was crisp as it pulled the strands of hair out of her neatly done bun. She glanced behind herself and smiled warmly at Rosa. She didn’t have to say a word for Rosa to know to give the siblings some space for a second. “I’m sorry.” Gina said her hands resting on the edge of the balcony. Jake’s were as well, but he was gripping it so tightly his knuckles had gone pale white._

_“That doesn't mean anything to me.”_

_“I know.” Gina said before the pair were once again engulfed by the silence. When she peaked a glance over at him, his eyes were bloodshot. “You look like hell.”_

_“I feel like hell.” Jake retorted with a cruel laugh that she had never and would never hear again from her brother. “How could she just leave? Gone just like that? It’s like she vanished out of thin air.”_

_“I know.” Gina said again. She didn’t know what else to say. What was there to say. The girl that he had been crushing on for as long as she could remember got up and ran away with another man without so much as a goodbye._

_“All I got was this.” Jake said handing Gina the envelope that she had placed on his bed two hours before. She kept it to herself that Amy did say goodbye to her. That probably wasn’t going to go over well. Also she didn’t want Jake to know that she was the one who put the envelope on his bed. She could’ve just handed it to him but Amy was right. She too couldn’t stand to see his puppy dog eyes._

_Gina didn’t open the envelope. Something about that seemed wrong. So she just held onto it and let it burn a hole right through her palm. “You know she didn’t have much of choice.”_

_“Bullshit.” Jake said rolling his eyes. If their father was in the room he probably would’ve passed out. But he wasn’t hear now. It was just Gina and Jake. Brother and sister. “She didn't have to run away with Teddy. She could’ve said goodbye. She just didn’t want to.” He said and Gina watched a tear fall down his cheek. Seeing Jake cry was something new and she prayed that she would never have to see it again._

_“Come here.” Gina said opening her arms out. It only took Jake a second to come towards her and wrap his arms around her. She held onto him tight as his entire body shock with violent sobs. “It’s going to be okay.” She whispered._

_“I miss her.”_

“I think you should leave.” Gina said. “Get out of here before Jake knows your back or sees you. I can keep a secret, he doesn't have to know that you were here.” Gina said her eyebrows furrowing together all of a sudden. “What happened to Teddy.”

Amy rolled her eyes. That was also a question that she was hoping to avoid. “It’s complicated but things clearly didn’t work out.”

“I mean like what are you doing here? What’s your endgame? Is this a power hungry move for the crown or are you actually here for Jake.” Amy was silent. “Oh my gosh. You’re here for the weekly paychecks aren't’ you?”

“Look things were really bad at my house. My parents wanted me to do this.”

“That’s almost worse than the girls who are here for the crown.”

“How is that worse?”

“At least they want to be here.” Gina sighed glancing back at Rosa who was already sticking her neck out by not sending Amy back to her room. “You should go back to your room before I ask Rosa to walk you back.” Gina said and Amy nodded once before turning to go. “Amy?” Gina asked before she was out of earshot. “I hope that everything works out well for you tomorrow if that means anything to you.” Amy only nodded once before turning and heading down the hall.

“Who is that?” Rosa asked as the pair started heading back towards Gina’s room. 

“Amy Santiago.” Gina replied. “She lived here when she was younger. Her dad was the head gardener so his whole family got to live on the grounds. When he got fired, the King and Queen allowed Amy to continue living on the grounds due to her close relationship with Jake and I.”

“Oh.” Rosa said. “So she’s here now competing for Jake.”

“Yep.” Gina said stopping at her door. “Tomorrow is going to be ugly. Jake is going to be really upset to see her and I’m going to have to pick up all the pieces tomorrow night. The same way I did five years ago.”

“Maybe he will be excited to see her.” Rosa countered. “He seems pretty open minded to me.” 

“We’ll see.” Gina said opening her bedroom door. “Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rosa nodded as Gina closed the door. She rested her back against the door and let her head fall back and hit the wood. She wanted to tell Jake to give him a warning but her father would murder her. 

\-----

“There is going to be a lot of press here before you can even get into the ballroom. The way that they paint you is crucial to how the public will see you. We want you to be this nice sweet girl who is here to find true love. You feel like you’ve been swept away into this magical fairytale and are excited to see where things go.”

“Why can I just be myself?” Amy asked looking out the window at the passing scenery. “And why aren’t we just doing this at the castle? Is there not a dinner hall big enough in there or something.”

“I don’t know about why we aren’t doing this at the castle. And you can’t be yourself because you don’t want to be here. The people need to think that you want to be here.” Terry said as the car came to a stop outside the venue.

“So you want me to lie?” 

“I want you to paint a picture.” Terry countered. “I want you to tell the story that everyone in this country so desperately wants to hear. Peasant girl falls in love with the prince and wins the crown.”

“Okay first of all I will paint whatever the hell I want. If I want to be that girl then fine. But maybe I want to be a power hungry brat. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Please don’t go out there and swear in front of all of those cameras.”

“Second don’t call me a peasant. That’s why everyone in the lower class hates the people who live up here. We are not peasants. This isn’t the sixteenth century. We’re just poor.”

“You know what?” Terry said. “I think I changed my mind. I want you to be a proper version of yourself. You’re strong, indepent, and level headed things that people should look for in a Queen.”

“Just please don’t go out there and swear.” 

“I’ll try my hardest.” Amy said as she got out of the car as gracefully as she could. The wind was blowing directly around her as she made her way up the stairs to the grand hall. There were reporters lining the sidewalk all taking pictures of her. The flashing light was almost blinding. Still she held her head high and smiled as she walked into the grand doors. 

“Amelia!” A reporter shouted. Amy wiped her head around and was greeted with a camera in her face and microphone being pushed towards her. “Can you answer some questions? I would love to get a good sound bite of you.”

“Sure.” Amy said politely smiling. 

“You’re from Waterdale.” the reporter said. “How do you think growing up on that part of the island has impacted your life and how do you plan to use those impacts here to your advantage.”

“Growing up in Waterdale really taught me the importance of things that aren’t material. I think that people put too much importance on materialistic things and things that they can buy that they start to forget the simpler things. I grew up in a large loving family and I wouldn't change it for the world.”

The reporter named scribbling things down on her notepad. “Thank you.” She said. “Do you think that growing up in Waterdale is going to make it harder for you to compete when most of these came from Goldcrest or even Far Hills?”

“No.” Amy said. “Sure most of these girls here have money or a title which I do not. But I think that J- The Prince will be looking at all of us as a person and who we are versus what we have and what we were born into.”

“I like that.” The reporter said taking the mic away from Amy. “I wish you the best of luck.” She said off the record before Amy turned to walk away. As she did a million different people started calling her name. She turned to the older man that was calling her. 

“How do you think that knowing the prince as children is going to affect your competition here?”

Amy felt that familiar tightness in her chest. She didn’t know but she was going to find out in less than an hour when she would see Jake again for the first time in five years. “I don’t think that it will.” She said. “I think that the Prince is going to chose someone that he loves regardless of how long he has known them. With love you just know.” The last part was a lie. There was not a single part of her brain that thought you just knew when you were in love. Love was something far more complicated than that and with all her years studying she never could quite figure it out. “I need to go though, I’m going to be late. Thank you.” 

She left the reporter and continued walking up the stairs. She tried her hardest not to trip in the heels that Terry had given her. She really needed to find a pair of flats somewhere. Surely there were a pair of lilac flats that would match this dress. Even black would work.

She walked into the room and immediately felt overwhelmed by the amount of people in the large room. There were waiters swarming everywhere, each one holding a tray filled with glasses of champagne. There were women in large ball gown dresses and men wearing tuxedos. Amy made her way over to the line where she was supposed to go to meet Jake. As she made her way over, she caught a glimpse of Jake standing at the front of the line talking to the girl she identified as Elizabeth. She was laughing obnoxiously at something while Jake smiled. Amy knew Jake well enough though to tell that it wasn’t a genuine smile.

“Hey.” Kylie whispered as Amy joined the back of the line. “I love your dress. That’s a gorgeous color.”

“Thank you. So is yours.” Kylie smiled. “Do you know what's going on up there?”

“Each girl gets five minutes with the prince and then we can go and sit down at our tables to eat.”

“Five minutes seems like a lot of time.” Amy said thinking out loud.

“I know right!” Kylie squealed. “I’m so excited. I hope that he likes blue. My organizer person said that it was his favorite color.”

His favorite color was yellow. At least when he was eighteen it was. He used to pick the yellow flowers from the garden. He would take a strand of her hair and tuck it behind her ear holding it in place with the flower. Her father was always ready to kill him. Looking back it should’ve been obvious but it never even clicked with her. 

The line slowly started getting shorter and shorter until Kylie was the next girl to go. After a minute a guard let Kylie across the room to where Jake was standing at the other end unable to see which girl was next. Amy wanted to throw up she really did. 

After what felt like no time at all the same guard was back and walking her to where he was standing. Her heart was in her throat as Jake laid eyes on her for the first time in five years. 

Standing in front of him was worse than standing at the front of that line. “Your royal highness.” She said cutsing. There was nothing that she wanted more than to call him Jake but there were cameras flash ign and the king and queen were in ear shot. 

“Amelia.” Jake said giving a slight bow as he had done with the other girls. “I hope that you are enjoying your stay here.” Amy looked at him for a second before realizing what was happening. He was treating her like all the other girls. She wasn’t Amy to him right now. She was Miss Amelia of Waterdale.

“Yes.” She said trying not to think to hard about what any of that meant. “It’s been very nice. Everyone has been very pleasant.”

“That is good.” Jake said.

“I ran into Gina and Charles.” Amy said and she watched the way Jake’s face changed for a second. She knew that he wanted to say something, yet he never did.

“We can’t do this right now.” Jake whispered to her as a guard came over to her. “I’m afraid our time is up.” He said back at his normal volume. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you miss Amelia and I hope to see more of you in the upcoming weeks.” he concluded before Amy was whisked away by the guard. 

Amy quickly found Kylie who was sitting next to Sophia deep in conversation. “He is just so sweet.” She heard Sophia say to Kylie as she took the empty chair next to the two girls.

“Oh I know. He’s absolutely to die for.” Kylie said. “He could be so stuck up but he’s not. I was blown away with how kind he was. What did you think of him Amy?” Kylie asked and the two girls turned their attention to Amy.

“Yeah he is very sweet.” She said her own brain still trying to catch up with whatever the hell happened back there. In all the scenarios she imagined she never thought about him pretending to not know her. For some reason that stung worse than him yelling at her and telling her to get the hell out and never come back.

“Who do you think he will chose for his first dance?” Sophia asked as food was sat down in front of them. From across the room Amy made eye contact with Charles who gave her a warm smile. At least someone was acting like their old selves.

“I don’t know.” Kylie said. “I hope it’s one of us but I could see it being Elizabeth.”

“Nah.” Amy said. “It won’t be her. I guarantee he’s not buying this whole little act of hers.” 

Kylie nodded as Amy grabbed her fork cutting into the chicken. She pushed a couple of the veggies around on her plate looking for anything weird that Charles might have put in there. “She is so fake.” Sophia agreed. “It annoys me to no ends.”

“I hope that you’re right and he does see through it.” Kylie said. “It would be a shame for someone like her end up being queen.” 

Amy felt someone tap on her shoulder and she turned around to see Terry. “Can I talk to you for a second.” Amy nodded before excusing herself from the table and working with Terry towards the back corner of the hall. “How do you think that the meeting with the prince went?”

“Okay.” Amy said. “He pretended like he didn’t know me but that is better than other outcomes I guess.”

“That’s not good.” Terry said. “I was hoping that he would be glad to see you.”

Amy laughed out loud for a second before remembering where she was. “Not with the way I left things.”

“Okay well you need to smooth that over. Apologize or something.”

“I don’t think an apology is going to fix it.” Amy said huffing in frustration. “I wish it was that easy.”

“Well it’s a good place to start. You are going to spending the next twelve weeks with him so it would be great if you could find a way to get along.”

Amy glanced at the front of the room where Jake was sitting with Gina and his parents. “What is this whole first dance shit?”

“Language.” Terry said. “And the first dance is very important. Which ever girl made the best impression on him will get the first dance to start off the next twelve weeks. That girl usually ends up being a media favorite.”

“Oh so it’s like the first rose in the bachelor!” Amy said. 

“I don’t like to compare this to the bachelor because we are picking out next Queen but yes essentially.”

“Okay.” Amy said. She looked at all the girls that were still eating. “Do you know who he is going to chose?”

“No.” Terry said. “But there’s been a lot of chatter about Sophia. So far she seems to be favorite with the other media relations people.” Amy nodded her head. She could see why. Sophia was elegant and intelligent. There was no reason why she wouldn’t be Jake’s favorite. The sound of glass chattering filled the air as the queen stood at the front of the room. “They’re actually about to do the first dance so you should go sit down.” She nodded making her way back to her table.

“I really hope he chooses one of us.” Kylie whispered over the Queen who was talking about what this night meant and all the other boring things that Amy couldn’t bring herself to care about. Finally she passed the mic over to Jake who stood at the center of the floor.

She could tell that he was nervous by the way he ran a hand through his hair and how clenched his jaw was. His eyes searched the crowd looking at each girl and she wondered if even he didn't know who he was going to chose. Finally his gaze landed on her. Their eyes locked and for a second Amy swore the Earth stopped spinning until she looked back down at her chicken. “For the first dance.” He said and she looked back up but he wasn’t looking at her anymore. “I would like to invite Miss Amelia of Waterdale to the floor.”

If the room was silent before, it was dead silent now. Not only would you hear a pin drop but you might even be able to hear a feather hit the floor. All eyes were now on Amy as she sat motionless in her seat trying to figure out if she heard him right. “Go.” Kylie whispered to her.

She didn’t remember moving her feet but the next thing she knew she was standing in front of him in front of what felt like thousands of people. The piano started playing a song that she didn’t know as Jake took her hand. “I’m sorry that I acted like I didn’t know you earlier.” Jake said as the two of them fell into the rhythm. The best rhythm that Amy could manage anyway. 

“Sorry.” She said as she stepped on his foot in her heels. She imagined that it hurt but he didn’t say anything if it did. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” Jake said. “You deserve better than that. When I saw you a million thoughts ran through my mind and five minutes just wasn’t enough.”

“How are you so nice?” Amy asked him half shocked. “I left you with no explanation and now you’re apologizing to me. I’m the one who owes you an apology.”

Jake tensed slightly and Amy knew that he was trying to come up with something to say but the song was slowing down and his time was dwindling. “Can we meet by the fountain tonight?” He asked her. “There’s so much that I want to say and want to know but I don’t want to do it front of a million people.” Amy nodded as the song ended and he let go of her hand. 

She curtsied before him and he bowed ever so slightly before she returned to her table. “I am so jealous of you right now.” Kylie said the second that she sat back down. The queen once again had the microphone and was talking about something but Amy only watched as Jake whispered something to Gina before disappearing out of the diner hall.

“You are so lucky.” Sophia said. “Not gonna lie I kinda wish that would’ve been me.”

“You and me both.” Kylie said. Amy only smiled and nodded. Around her girls were getting up and leaving. Soon Terry was by her side ushering her out of the dinner hall.

“You got the first dance!” He exclaimed when they were outside. “I’m so proud of you! Did you apologize.”

“No.” She said. “But I’m going to. I’m going to make things right no matter what it takes.”

\------

Later than night she found herself walking down the oh so familiar stone path towards the royal gardens. She could practically see her ten year old self running down these same trails racing Gina because last one there was a rotten egg. She found that everywhere she turned was a memory she so desperately wanted to forget. Or rather relief. 

So she continued walking through the gardens navigating her way towards where she knew the large fountain sat right in the middle of the large maze. When she entered the clearing the sound of rushing water was the first thing that she registered. The sky was clear and the moonlight was reflected in the small pool of water at the base of the fountain. She sat down on the edge and gazed at her reflection in the water. She honestly half expected to see that little girl with those wide innocent eyes look back up at her.

\----

_“Tag you’re it!” Jake shouted as he hit across the back before running back into the maze. His laugh echoing across the walls._

_“Hey no fair!” Amy shouted back at him. “I was tying my shoe!” She finished her perfect bow tie before getting up on her feet and chasing after him. The wind whipped through her hair as she chased after him. She played this enough times with him to know that he was going to the fountain. That was where he always went._

_So although she could no longer see him she made all the right turns that would take her to the center of the maze. And there he was sitting on the edge of the fountain tossing pieces of grass into it. “Aren’t you supposed to be tossing coins in there.” Amy asked all casually as if the only reason she was there wasn’t to tag him._

_“Where do you think that I’m going to get coins at?” He asked her as he threw another piece of grass into the water._

_“I don’t know.” She said as she reached down and pulled a handful of grass out of the ground. “Are you at least making a wish?”_

_“I’m not stupid Santiago.” Jake said with a playful smirk. “Of course I’m making a wish.”_

_“What are you wishing for?”_

_“If I tell you then it won’t come true.”_

_“Not true.” Amy said as she threw some of her own grass into the fountain._

_“Yes true.”_

_“Not true._

_“You want to bet?”_

_“How would we even bet on that?”_

_“I’ll make a wish and tell you what it is and I guarantee it won’t come true.” Jake said._

_“Okay. Then I’ll make a wish tell you and i guarantee that it will come true.”_

_“Deal.” Jake said reaching down and getting some more grass. He threw his grass into the water with a mischievous grin as he turned to face her. “I wish that you’ll kiss me.”_

_Amy smirked at him as she threw her grass into the fountain. “And I wish that you have to be it.” She said as she reached forward and hit his arm before running away into the maze._

_“You tricked me!” He shouted after all._

_“All in a day’s work Peralta.”_

\-----

“Hey.” Jake said as he sat down next to her.

“Hi.” She said back. There was a moment of silence before Amy spoke first. “I’m really sorry that I just showed up and sprung all this on you.”

Jake was silent for a moment. “Can I be honest with you?” He asked her. 

“Of course.” She said. 

“You leaving was a pretty shitty thing to do.” He said letting out a breath of relief for finally being able to say it to her face. He had imagined telling her off in so many different ways that it felt nice to finally sit down and have this conversation. “Like really shitty for someone that I considered my best friend.”

“I know.” she said. “And I could sit here and make excuses all day long but I’m not going to. When you said earlier that I deserve better than being treated like a stranger, you were wrong. I deserved that plus a thousand times more. But you deserved better than just some half assed letter that I couldn’t even give to you.”

Jake nodded once remembering the handwritten letter that was sitting in his top dresser drawer. The paper was more crumpled and tear stained than it was when it was set on his bed but it was still there. “I felt like you were the only person that I really had. You were the only one who understood that I never wanted any of this. So it was like a stab to the heart when you left.”

“I can't apologize enough. You have no reason to forgive me.” Amy said. “I mean looking back I was terrible person and for me to even show up here-”

“Why did you do it?” Jake asked cutting her off. “Why did you leave? With _Teddy._ ”

“Amy was quiet for a minute trying to come up with the most reasonable explanation. “Because I was stupid.” She said. “I was a teenager who was in love and thought that Teddy was everything I’ve ever wanted. You know my dad had just been fired so I wasn’t going to be live here anymore anyways.”

“You know that you would have always had a place here if I was here.”

“Not after what happened with Teddy.” Amy said. “You and I both know that you’re parents never would’ve let me stay after what happened. Especially since we were together.”

Jake nodded in understanding. “But why didn’t you tell me to my face that you were leaving?”

“I was afraid!” Amy said. “I was terrified of leaving the one thing I’ve ever known. I didn’t want to have to say goodbye. I thought it would be too hard. I was thinking about myself and how I felt. It never even occurred to me that me leaving might cause you pain.”

“Really?” Jake asked her sounding annoyed as hell. “It didn’t occur to you that you leaving might have been hard for me? I legit told you three days before you left that you were the most important thing in my life.”

Amy felt tears brimming at her eyes at the memory. “I know.” She said. “I know.” She repeated not sure what else to say.

“That’s not good enough.” Jake said. “You hurt me in ways that I can’t describe.”

“I know.” She repeated again. “And I’ve thought about that every night since. Believe me, when I think about it, it makes me sick to my stomach. I didn’t ever mean to be the reason that you were in pain. You have to believe me. If I could go back I would do everything differently. _Everything_. All I want is a second chance and if you can't give that to me I fully understand. ” By now the tears were falling down her cheeks and she didn’t even try to stop them.

“Can I ask you one more thing?” 

“Anything.”

“Why are you here?”

She took a deep breath. “Money’s a little tight with my family right now. They’re about to lose their house. They are in a lot of debt. It’s just bad.”

“So the check that they get for you being here?” Jake asked and Amy nodded. “So you’re not here for the crown or for me?”

“No.” Amy said but immediately wished that she could take it back at the look of hurt on his face. “You know I would never be here for the crown. I don’t care about any of this shit. I didn’t come here for you, but if me being here gets me to be your friend again then I’m all for it.”

Jake nodded once. “We’ll see.” He said standing up. “I know Charles and Gina are both glad that you’re here but I’m not sure that I am yet.” Amy stood up as well nodding her head in understandment. “You should go back to your room before we get in trouble.”

“Yeah.” She said as she started to turn away.

“Ames.” He called out and she turned around feeling something stir inside her at the nickname. It had been almost five years since anyone had called her that.

“Yeah?”

“I missed you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this is bad then I apologize, I am far too tired to try and proof read it tonight but I wanted to get it posted as I thought that I had posted it like two days ago lol


	5. Eyes Closed Going Where The Tide Goes

Amy woke up early the next morning. She went to bed pretty late the night before. The conversation she had with Jake replaying over and over again in her mind. She didn’t deserve it but she wanted him to forgive her so badly. All that she wanted was for things to go back to normal.

She got out of the warm bed glancing at the alarm clock. It was almost seven in the morning. If things were the same as they were when she was younger, Charles would have breakfast on the table at eight am sharp. She quickly grabbed a couple of things before heading into the bathroom that was way too large for just one person.

After showering she emerged into her room wearing only a towel while shuffling through her suitcase looking for something to wear. Terry was probably going to have some large ball gown that she was to wear. Just then there was soft knock on her door. “Come in!” She shouted and the door opened allowing Terry to walk into the large room.

“I’m glad that you are awake. Breakfast will start in about thirty minutes.” Terry said and Amy noticed that he was carrying two dresses with him. “For the day it isn’t necessary to do so much hair and makeup so I brought just this simple dress.” He laid a simple white summer dress down on her bed along with a peach colored ball gown. “The white dress will work for out and about around the grounds and then the peach dress is for tonight’s dinner.”

“Tonight's dinner?” Amy asked.

“Yes tonight you will get to formally meet the King and Queen.”

Amy sighed. “Is it going to be like last night where I have to make small talk for five minutes?”

“No.” Terry said. “It’s more just walk up to them tell them your name and how grateful you are to be here as a prospective candidate for the next Queen.”

“Okay. I can do that. Is Jake going to be at breakfast?” Amy wasn’t really sure what she hoped the answer was but for some reason she still found herself holding her breath.

“No.” Terry said. “None of the royals will be at this breakfast. They all have their own breakfast in a separate room Is that not the way they did it when you were younger?”

\-----

_“No fair!” Gina yelled at Jake as he took the last pancake off the stack. “You know that I like those.”_

_“Boo hoo.” Jake replied to his younger sister. “Just go ask Lynn and he’ll make you more. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but this whole place kind of revolves around us.” Amy grabbed a muffin as she watched Gina storm off into the direction of the kitchen._

_“Would it have been that big of a deal to give her the pancake?” Amy asked Jake. She grabbed a cup and filled it with the orange juice that was left sitting on the counter._

_“Yes it would’ve been that big of deal.” Jake said._

_“Jacob.” His mother called and the room well feel silent. Amy turned to watch his mother approach the three of them at the counter. “Hurry up and get your food so you can join your father and I. You know that we have separate food in our private room don’t you.”_

_“I want to sit out here with my friends.” Jake said. “And the food out here is just as good as the food in their.”_

_The Queen looked back towards the private room where Amy knew the King was sitting waiting. “Just this once.” She said before retreating back to the room. Jake turned around and gave a cocky smile to Amy and Charles before filling a bowl up with cheerios._

_A waiter walked past the three of them and Jake stopped. “Excuse me?”_

_“Yes your highness?” The server asked._

_“Just Jake.” He corrected her. “But do you think that I can get some orange soda?” the waiter looked apprehensive for a moment before nodding and retreating into the kitchen. The three of them sat down at the large table. Amy next to Charles and across from Jake._

_The girl from before came back over and sat a can of orange soda down in front of Jake. “Thank you.”_

_“My pleasure.”_

_“I hate when they do that.” Jake said as he rolled his eyes. “She’s a thirty year old woman who is practically worshiping a fifteen year old boy. The entire thing is pathetic and stupid.”_

_“That’s kind of the way this whole town is.” Amy said as Jake opened the can and began to pour it into his cereal. “Oh my gosh.”_

_“I can’t believe that you would treat your palate that way.” Charles remarked in disgust._

_“Hate to break it to you but you are guys are not the reason I wanted to stay out here. If I went in there dad would never let me do that. He’s so uptight.”_

\-----

“No. That’s not the way things usually worked.” Amy said grabbing the white dress. “Thank you.” She said as she made her way into the bathroom again.

“I assume you know where to go?” Terry asked standing outside the door.

“Yeah.” Amy shouted.

“Okay then I will see you after breakfast. Try to play nice.”

“I’ll try.” she shouted back slipping into the dress. She hated wearing dresses but at least this one was lightweight and didn’t feel like it was suffocating her. She then let her room and began making her way to the dining hall.

“Amy!” She heard someone shout from the down the hall. She smiled to herself upon recognizing the voice. When she turned around sure enough Jake was sprinting down the hall to where she was standing. “Where you going?”

“Breakfast.” she says as Jake falls into step with her. “Where are you going?”

“Breakfast as well.” Jake says before pausing and adding. “You want to go to the gazebo and eat out there?”

“Just the two of us?”

“Yeah. Just like old times.”

“I would love too, but how do you think that we are just going to walk away from them with all the food?”

“I don’t know if you remember or not but I’m pretty good friends with the main chef. I’m pretty sure I could arrange something.” Jake said as he lead her down some winding halls toward the kitchen. He pushed open the large door and the smell of fresh bread is the first thing that hits Amy. “Charles!” Jake exclaims making his way over to Charles. Can you do us a favor.”

“Amy!” Charles says upon seeing her. “I’m glad that you two are getting along again.”

“Oh no.” Jake says. “Amy isn’t my friend. I’m still unbelievably pissed at her.”

“What the hell man!” Amy said throwing her arms up.

“But I believe in second chances.” Jake continued. “So we are starting off fresh.”

“You’re such a-”

“Amazing friend?” Jake interrupted. “Yeah I am a pretty good friend consedring I didn't kick you out last night. Anyways Charles can you park like six pancakes, flour biscuits, five hashbrowns, two things of eggs, i don’t know how you measure eggs, ten pieces of bacon and uh let's go ahead and throw in two more pancakes.” 

“Good lord.” Amy said as Charles moved around the kitchen packing things in boxes before handing the two of them a stack of to-go boxes. 

“Also can we get some water.” Charles noded handing Amy several bottles of water. “Thank you!” Jake shouted as the two exited the kitchen. “Alright so we’re going to go out the side door up here and then to the gazebo. It’s been so long since I’ve been there.”

“I used to love it. Sitting out there, feet hanging over the edge in the water good book in hand.”

“Nah I just liked jumping off from it into the lake. It was always refreshing after a hot day.”

“What was wrong with the big pool you have up by the castle.”

“Uh people watching me there. Had to be prince like as I divided into the water.” Jake said as the two reached the gazebo.

“It’s just like I remember it.” she said sitting down at the small table they had set up. Jake put the many to go boxes on the table before opening them up and finding what he wanted. 

“Help yourself to whatever.” he said and she grabbed a piece of bacon. 

“That’s a lot of pancakes.”

“You know I like my pancakes.” 

“That I do.” Amy said laughing as she grabbed one. 

“This was my best idea ever.” Jake said folding a pancake in half and biting into it. He held it up to his mouth showing the bite mark before bursting out laughing the way a toddler would. “Don’t have to eat with a fork or wipe my hands on a stupid napkin.”

“You should use a napkin though.” Amy said. “That way you don’t get grease on your clothes.”

“You sound just like my mother.” Amy rolled her eyes looking out at the lake. It felt like a perfect spring morning. The sun was already high in the sky and she could tell that it was going to be warm day. The birds were chirping and the sound of water hitting the edges of the gazebo was relaxing. “So listen.” Jake said after a minute. “I know it’s none of my business but what happened with you and Teddy?”

Amy sighed. The one conversation she was hoping to avoid and here they were having it not even twenty four hours after being reacquainted. “We both wanted different things.” She said. “He wanted kids and I didn’t. He wanted me to basically be a stay at home mom and I wasn’t going to do that.” Jake nodded. 

“He was a lot older than you.” 

“Yeah.” Amy said. “That was part of the problem. We were just a different stage in life. He wanted to sit at home and do nothing whereas I wanted to go out and do things you know? I would’ve liked to go out to dinner and maybe get a little to drunk for public occasionally.”

“Tell me about it.” Jake said with a laugh and Amy smiled sympathetically at him. “I haven’t been to a bar since the incident.”

“Yeah but that’s probably a good call don’t you think?” Amy asked. “I mean you could’ve died if things had been ever so slightly different.”

“I guess. It’s not as much fun to drink here though.” Jake said.

“I could see that.”

“Do you regret leaving with him? Being with him?”

Amy pursed her lips for a second trying to come up with an answer that made sense. “I don’t know. I regret the way I left. But I don’t know if I regret being with Teddy or leaving with Teddy. There just wasn’t much left here for me anymore. Besides you guys.” She added.

“Yeah.” Jake said looking down at the water refusing to make eye contact with her. If she didn’t know any better she would say that’s not the answer he wanted to hear. 

“But enough about me. What about you? How are you holding up with this whole thing?”

“It’s overwhelming.” Jake said looking back up at her and grabbing a piece of bacon. “I mean all of these girls and I’m supposed to pick on of them to marry and spend the rest of my life with? That’s not exactly an easy choice.”

“Who do you like the best so far?” She wasn’t sure why she asked it but she felt the need to know.

“I dunno. Probably Sophia. She seems nice and smart. She’s easy on the eyes too.” Amy smiled and nodded. It really didn’t surprise her that Sophia was in his top picks. She was the only one here that Amy considered competition. Not that Amy was competing because she definitely did not want this. 

“Sophia’s nice.” Amy agreed.

“Some of these girls are just so fake though. You can kind of tell which girls are here solely for the crown you know? And I don’t know why Holt even bothered putting them into this.”

“I figure that he’s designed this so at the end of the twelve weeks you know exactly who you want to be with. That way there won’t be any hesitation.”

“I guess that makes sense. I mean there are so many that I can already eliminate. It’s going to be a rough twelve weeks with some of them.”

“You’re telling me.” Amy said with a small smile. “Do you think that your parents are pissed that you didn’t go to their breakfast or whatever.”

“Oh I’m sure.” Jake said standing up from where he was sitting and taking off his shirt. Amy was lying if she said her eyes didn’t linger on him for a second too long before she ripped them away.

“Um what are you doing?” 

“I was going to go for a swim.” Jake said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. 

“Are you serious?” Amy asked.

“Yeah.” He said as he jumped off the edge of the gazebo and into the water. When he resurfaced his hair was a disaster and curly like it was when he woke up this morning. Before someone had put a butt load of product into it. “Are you coming?” He asked her swimming up to the ledge.

“What? No.” she said. “I’m wearing a dress and Terry would kill me if I came back with it soaked.”

“Oh come on.” Jake said. “Live a little.”

“I am.” Amy said. Against her better judgement she got up from the picnic table where she was sitting and made her way to the edge. She pulled her dress up enought that she could dangle her legs into the water next to where he was treading.

“There you go.” He said. “Now you just have to get in.”

“I am not getting in.” She said to him.

“You’re no fun.” Jake pouted.

“You’ve known this about me for years.”

“Yeah.” Jake said before a playful smirk appeared on his face.

“No.” Amy said shaking her finger at him. “I recognize that smirk and whatever it is you’re thinking I guarantee that it’s a bad idea.”

“See the thing is I think that you want to get in the water, you just need someone to give you a little push.”

Before Amy could even comprehend what he meant, she felt his hands on her legs dragging her into the water. “Jake!” She shrieked as she hit the water her entire body being submerged into the lake water. “You are unbelievable!” She said when she reemerged. She splashed him in the face with the water but all he did was laugh.

“But admit it, you are having more fun now?”

“Look at me!” She screamed at him. “Now everyone is going to be like what the fuck was she doing during breakfast.”

“I don’t think that’s how Queen’s talk.”

“I am so tired of hearing that.” She said and Jake laughed.

“At least you haven’t heard it your whole life. ‘Kings don’t use such foul language Jacob.”’ Jake said mocking his father’s voice.

“Wow.” Amy said. “You actually sound just like him. Legit goosebumps.”

“That’s cause the water is so cold.” Jake said splashing her once.

“Hey!” Amy yelled at him before the two of them burst out laughing.

“Are the two you done?” A third voice yelled and suddenly the water felt so much colder. Amy looked at Jake her eyes wide with fear and he shook his head at her and she could tell that he was thinking the same thing. 

“Yes.” Jake said. He grabbed Amy’s hand and led her to the edge of the gazebo where he pulled himself out before offering her his hand which she accepted. The two of them stood underneath the gazebo their food long forgotten on the picnic table. Amy stared at the ground not wanting to meet the Queen’s disapproving look.

“I expected this from you.” She said to Jake. “but _you_.” She said and Amy glanced up at the sudden change of tone. “I was wondering what having you back here was going to be like and this is not what I expected. The girl that I used to know would be taking this very serious and stopping Jacob from breaking simple rules.”

“I-” Amy started before Jake stepped in.

“I pulled Amy into the water. She wasn’t a part of this at all. In fact she even protested to me being in the water.”

“Grab your stuff and let’s go.” Karen said before turning on her heel and walking back towards the castle. Jake put his shirt back on and Amy grabbed a couple of the boxes of food. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered when they were back on the grounds.

“It’s okay.” She whispered back. “You were right. I had fun.” But that didn’t matter when they walked past a group of girls are dressed in pretty clean sundresses. Amy kept her head down and from the corner of her she could tell that Jake was doing the same thing. They stopped by Amy’s room and Amy smiled slightly at Jake before going into the room and closing the door behind her. 

“Just wait until your father hears about this.” Karen said as the two of them started walking towards his dad’s chambers.

“Wait.” Jake said speed walking to catch up with his mom. “Do we have to tell him.”

“You don’t think that he noticed that you were missing from breakfast?” Karen asked him and Jake sighed knowing that she was right. “I mean honestly Jacob. You need to use your brain more.”

“I was having fun!” Jake said as she pushed open the door to where his father was siting. 

“Where was he?” Roger asked Karen his voice booming.

“At the gazebo in the water with Amelia.”

“I knew that having her back here was a bad idea. She always got into his head when he was younger too. Made him do things that he never would’ve done otherwise.”

“You think that Amy is the reason I did those. If anything I was the bad influence on Amy. She’s the perfect angel you've always wanted as a son.”

“You’re not helping your case.” Gina whispered to him so Jake shut his mouth.

“I think that we should have her dismissed. She doesn't belong her anyways.” Roger said and Karen noded.

“Wait.” Jake said. “Please don’t do that.” He said remembering what she said about her family needing the money. “I promise that I won’t do anything stupid again.” He said. “Just don’t take this out on Amy. It was me that drug her there.”

“Well at least he’s admitting when he’s wrong.” Karen said.

Roger titled his head side to side as if trying to make up his mind. “Amelia can stay. But one more slip up and she’s gone. She doesn't belong here anyways.” 

“Thank you.” Jake said with a small smile.

“Now go look more presentable.” Roger said forcefully and Jake nodded before walking out of the room and back to his room. When he passed Amy’s door he wanted to stop so badly but he wasn’t going to risk this for her. She needed this and he wasn’t going to be the reason she lost it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is officially completely written so expect daily updates :)


	6. It's More Of A Fight And Less Of A Game

“I mean what were you thinking?” Terry asked as Sharon dried her hair. They made her shower again which was a good call considering how dirty the water was. “Sneaking away from breakfast with the pince. Swimming in the lake water.” Terry said sighing in frustration.

“Jake invited me to breakfast. I wasn’t going to say no.” Amy said. “Plus I kinda wanted to go. It was nice to just be the two of us again.”

“I don’t care about that!” Terry yelled at her. “You can not get kicked out of this do you understand me.” He asked her. “We.” He said pointing between Sharon and himself “have a lot riding on this.”

Amy nodded as Sharon put the finishing touches on her makeup and braided her hair. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking I guess.”

Terry nodded taking a deep breath. “It’s okay.” He said after a second. “At least the prince clearly wants to be around you. As for when you officially meet the king and queen I recommend you apologize for this morning and tell them that it won’t happen again. Make them believe this is a one time occurence.”

Amy nodded grabbing the red ball gown off the bed before heading into the bathroom. She really didn’t want to put the stupid thing. “You look perfect.” Sharon said when Amy walked out of the bathroom.

“Okay so I want you to pretend like I am the king and sharon is the queen and address us like you are going to address the real king and queen.”

Amy rolled her eyes before dipping down into a curtsey holding the sides of her dress. “His majesty.” She then turned and did the same thing for Sharon only changing his to her.

“Good.” Terry said looking to his wife for any other comments.

“I think you’re ready.” she said. Amy took a deep breath as her and Terry left the safety of her large room. 

“Do you feel ready?” Terry asked as they started to walk down.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. I mean I’ve met them before.”

“Yeah.” Terry said. “So some of the other girls are already in there. When you go in the first thing you will do is go the king and the queen. The prince will be there with him. You need to curtsey and address him as well.”

“Okay” Amy said as Terry opened the doors for her. She walked into the large room as gracefully as possible. When Jake saw her his eyes lit up. She smiled warmly back as she made her way towards him. “His majesty.” She said curtseying for the king and doing the same for the Queen.

“Amelia.” The king said in a tone that Amy knew was not good. 

“Before you say anything.” Amy said wincing after she realized it was probably not proper to interrupt the king. “I want to apologize for this morning. I wanted to go down to the gazebo like when we were kids so I asked Jake, his royal highness, and he said that he would take me down there. Getting in the water was completely my idea and Jake…” she sighed in frustration at not being able to use his actual name. “Protested at first before giving in.” She finished.

“Sounds like you two need to get your story straight.” The king said although he was looking more at Jake than Amy. “I don’t know wether to applaud you or scold you for taking the bullet for my son.”

“Hopefully applaud.” Amy said her voice sounding much smaller than it had two seconds ago. When she looked up at Jake, he looked like he was two seconds away from bursting out laughing which was not helping her. 

“I must confess that I am worried about you being back Amelia.” The Queen said and Amy just knew that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation either. “With the way things ended last time and how much pain you put my son through.” Amy saw out of the corner of her the way Jake looked at the ground his cheeks a lighter shade of pink.

“I know.” She said. “But I promise that’s not going to happen again. I was a stupid eighteen year old who didn’t know what she was doing. But this time I’m here to stay.”

“I sure hope so.” The king said his voice firm as a guard walked towards Amy telling her that her time was up. “I wouldn’t want you to make a sham out of this whole social scene.”

“No sir.” Amy said as she was ushered away. Before being out of shot she shot Jake a glance that screamed for help but all he did was smile back. She made her way over to the table of girls who were all wearing big ball gown dresses like hers. “Hey.” she said to Kylie when she sat down.

“Hey yourself!” Kylie said. “Pretty bold of you to skip breakfast and go play hooky with the Prince.”

Sophia turned her attention to the two girls. “Yeah.” She agreed. “What was that about? Where did you go?”

“Oh.” Amy said. She didn’t really want to talk about it but they had all seen her come back drenched in dirty lake water. “We were at the gazebo down by the lake.”

“Did the Prince take you there? Do you think that’s where he takes all the girls he likes?” Sophia asked and Amy could feel the tiniest bit of jealousy in her voice. 

“I don’t know.” Amy said and that’s when Elizabeth walked over to the table.

“You.” She said pointing a finger at Amy. “I thought it was weird when a girl none of us know shows up here on the castle out of the blue but it all makes sense now.”

“Excuse me?” Amy asked trying to keep her calm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” all the girls at the table were silent as they listened to the exchange.

“You know the rest of us have been training our entire lives for this. We’ve gone through countless of lessons and hours learning to be graceful and poised. None of us in here are just going to let you waltz in here and take our man right from underneath our noses.”

“He’s not _your_ man.” Amy said feeling anger rise up in her chest.

“Well he certainly won’t ever be yours.” Elizabeth said and a couple of the other girls around the table shouted their praise. Much like the way a bunch of teenage girls would as the bully takes down the innocent bystander.

“Look.” Amy said trying to stay as calm as she could. “I don’t know why you feel the need to pick a fight with me. I was sitting here minding my own business talking to my friends when you out of the blue attacked me. I know that you need to tear someone else down to make you feel better about yourself but I’m not going to be that girl.” Amy said before returning to her chicken as if the conversation had never even happened.

Elizabeth stared at Amy, her mouth hanging slightly agape. “Oh I see.” She said after a second. “You think that because you grew up with the Prince that he’s automatically going to chose you. You think that you’re above the rest of us because you and him have some special bond.”

The entire table was silent as they realized what Elizabeth was saying. Amy stopped eating for a moment realizing that the entire dynamic of these next twelve weeks was going to change. In their eyes, she was now the biggest competition. “Is that true?” She heard someone from down the table whisper. “If she knows him already then we are all at a disadvantage.”’

“What’s the matter?” Elizabeth asked. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Enough!” Amy said standing up from the table. “Yeah I knew the prince when I was younger.” She admitted. “Big deal. We were friends and nothing more. Get off your high horse and go find someone else to drag through the mud.” She said walking away from the table and all the other girls. She wasn’t sure where she was going when she stormed out but eventually she found herself in one of the public bathrooms.

Luckily there was no one in there so she found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror trying to tell herself that she could do this. There was a small knock on the bathroom door and the rational part of her brain told her to run to one of the stalls, lock the door, pull her feet up, and pretend that she wasn’t there.

Yet she found herself shouting out “Come in.” the door opened slowly almost as if the person who was behind it was hesitating. 

“Hey.” She heard Gina whisper. She opened the door just a little and whispered to her guard. “Please don’t let anyone come in here.” The girl with curly black hair nodded once before Gina closed the door again. “Those girls are brutal.” She said slightly louder now that she knew there was nobody listening to them.

“Tell me about it.” Amy said laughing slightly.

“I thought that you did a good job handling them. And if it means anything so did mom and dad. And of course Jake. But Jake is going to impressed with anything you do. You could write your name on a piece of paper and he would say it was the most beautiful piece of artwork that he’s ever seen.”

“Shut up.” Amy said pushing the girl slightly. “I mean they have every right to be mad. If I was taking this seriously I would be.”

“Nah.” Gina said. “They don’t. The winner of this is already picked out. Holt already knows who Jake is going to chose. So it shouldn’t matter to them.”

“Yeah but what if Holt knows that he’s going to chose me?”

“Do you want him to chose you?” Gina asked.

Amy was silent for a beat too long before she said “No.” 

“Then he’s not going to chose you.” Gina replied and despite the fact that she really didn’t want him to chose her she did kind of feel her heart drop. She didn’t want this. This life-style. Uncomfortable gowns and dinner that went on for way too long. But she was starting to realize that maybe she wanted him. The circumstances just needed to be different. Like for instance, she shouldn’t be competing to be his wife he should find her at a bar and give some cheesy pick up line like a normal guy would.

“Look as much fun as this conversation is mom is about to give her speech and if I miss it I am in so much trouble and I’m guessing that you would be too.”

“Yeah.” Amy agreed looking back in the mirror one more time trying to convince herself that she was ready to go back out there.

“Don’t let those girls drag you down. It’s not worth it. Like you said, they only do that because they feel bad about themselves.”

“Thanks.” Amy said. Gina nodded before slipping out the bathroom. Amy quickly followed her down the hall and into the main dining room. Back inside, Amy watched Gina make her way to the front. She stopped by where Jake was sitting and leaned down to whisper something in his ear. Amy watched the way Jake nodded and smiled slightly a wave of relief washing over his face. What she wouldn’t give to hear what Gina was saying right now.

“For the record.” Kylie said when she knew that Amy was listening. “I thought it was really cool the way you stood up to those girls.”

“Oh my gosh.” Sophia said in agreeance. “I’ve been wanting to tell Elizabeth off since day one.”

“Thanks.” Amy said with a soft smile before turning her attention to the Queen who was currently speaking.

Amy finds increasingly hard to concentrate, her gaze continuing to shift towards the man sitting behind her. Eventually he looked up at the same time as her, a small smirk making its way onto his face. He opened his mouth as if to yawn before stroking his chin. She glanced down at the table trying to hide the large smile on her face.

She hadn’t thought about that in a while. The small gesture they did as kids when the adults were talking and they were bored out of their mind. She lifted her head and looked at him doing the same motion rolling her eyes slightly. This time it was his turn to look down trying to hold back laughter.

She didn’t know what she felt for Jake. She wished there was some simple answer. But no matter what romantic feelings she felt for him the bottom line was that he was her best friend. She wasn’t sure that he would consider her that anymore but she would. And losing him as a friend over some stupid competition was terrifying to her. 

She looked back up and smiled at him and read his lips as he mouthed ‘I’m going to kill myself.’

‘You and me both’. She mothed back at him and he wrinkled up his face clearly not being able to read what she was saying. When Amy glanced back up and towards the door where the large clock hung on the wall, she was met with a icy stare from Elizabeth. Amy smiled back politely trying to ignore her.

Eventually the Queen’s speech was coming to an end and all the girls were making their way back to their rooms. There was a small part of her brain that told her to find Jake, but the more rational part reminded her of this morning and being yelled out by his mother.

So she made her way back to her room striping off the big red gown the second her door was closed. She then made her way to the bathroom taking out countless bobby pins that felt like they were stabbing her skull and washing off fifty pounds of makeup. 

Never in her life has she been more thankful for her disgusting grey sweatpants and brother’s x-large t-shirt. It was the best thing that she packed for this whole ordeal. After getting dressed she started digging through her bag looking for the fuzzy socks that she knew she packed. She had checked them off the list and everything.

As she was digging through the pocket of her bag there was a knock on the door. She threw her head back sighing just knowing that it wa Terry and that he was going to yell at her for telling those girls off.

She opened the door up ready to tell Terry she didn’t want to hear it when she saw Jake standing on the other side of the door. He looked shocked to see her casual for a second before a smile appeared on his face. “Sorry.” He said. “I should’ve let you know that I was coming.” 

“No it’s fine.” She playing with the hem of her shirt self consciously underneath his gaze. “What’s up?”

“I was lonely.” Jake said Amy quirked an eyebrow. “Sorry. I just wanted some company.

“Well I’m not going with you to the gazebo if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No nothing like that.” Jake said swallowing some what thickly. “If you wanted to come with me to my room you can. There’s extra fish and wine if you wanted.”

“Oh.” Amy said rocking back and forth for a second trying to decide if she should or not.

“I mean it doesn't have to be some big thing.” Jake said. “I just don’t want to be alone.”

Amy looked at him making eye contact. He didn’t say anything else but just by looking in his eyes she could tell how desperate he was that she go back with him. “Okay.” she said and he smiled widely. She closed the bedroom door behind her praying that none of the other girls would see her right now. She would never live going to the prince’s private room dressed like an absolute slob down.

His room was about the same as it was when they were younger. There were clothes all over the floor that she knew someone else would clean up tomorrow. His bed was made but it was clear that he had moved the pillows around for some reason. “So I thought that we could sit out on the balcony.” Jake said pointing to the open double doors. “It kind of smells bad in here.”

“I wonder who’s fault that is.” Amy retorted making her way towards the balcony.

“I’ll be out there in a second. I’m going to change, hate wearing all this fancy shit.” Amy nodded watching him disappear into his closet that was entirely too large for one man. She sat down in one of his chairs and looked out over the city. She could see thousands of stars in the sky and twinkling lights of houses on the horizon.

\----

_“What about the selection?” Amy asked him as she watched what felt like the millionth firework explode into the sky._

_“What about it?” Jake asked her grabbing a chicken wing. The king would murder Charles if he knew that Charles had given them to him._

_“I mean now that you’re eighteen it could happen at any point.”_

_He didn’t say anything but she saw the way he shuddered ever so slightly. “Isn’t Holt supposed to decide when the time is right?”_

_“Yeah.” Amy said. “I’m asking you how you feel about that though. I mean that’s like every guy’s dream. Fifteen girls competing to be his wife.”_

_“I guess.” Jake said shrugging his shoulders. “Seems kind of pointless to me.”_

_“What do you mean?” Amy asked him holding her hand out. “Also give me a wing.”_

_He handed a wing that was coated in some kind of hot sauce that Charles swore was the best thing that they’d ever have. “I don’t know. I’m not against it, but I don’t want to marry some girl who only cares about the crown you know? Like I don’t care about any of this and I want to be with someone who feels that way too.”_

_Amy took a bite out of the wing gasping for air as the sauce hit her taste buds. “Holy shit what is that sauce.” Jake reached across the table and handed her a water bottle._

_“It’s good right?”_

_“It’s hot.” He only laughed as he bit into another one._

_“I hate fireworks.” He said watching what his father called a spectacular show. “They’re only bright for a few seconds before they’re gone forever. They’re like shooting stars.”_

_“I guess.” Amy said catusioly taking another bite of the chicken. “These are actually really good.” Jake nodded handing her another one. “Thanks.”_

_“Can I ask you something.”_

_“Shoot.”_

_“If you were competing in the selection for me.” He said trailing off slightly. “Would you be in it for me or for the crown?”_

_“You. Of course.” Amy said taking a bite of chicken the underlying meaning of his question not even phasing her. “I don’t care about the crown.”_

_“So you think that if I wasn’t a prince, if I was just a random person out there in the town, you think that we would still be friends?”_

_“Jake.” Amy said. “We’re always going to be friends.”_

\-----

“Sorry.” Jake said stepping out into the warm May air. Amy glanced behind herself to see him sitting down in the chair next to her wearing a plaid shirt and pair of jeans.

“I’m surprised that they even let you have jeans.”

“They don’t know I have them. Charles smuggled them in for me.” Jake said with a sad smile and it was then that she realized just how different his life was. Sure it was obviously different but she never thought about him having to smuggle jeans into the palace.

“That sucks man.” She said but she just shrugged. “Do you want some of this?” Jake asked as he started cutting a piece of fish that was on his plate.

“No I’m good thanks.” She replied. “How are you still hungry?”

“I didn’t get to eat when the rest of you did. Heaven forbid there be a picture of me with food on my face printed in the papers tomorrow morning.” She watched him grab a thing of mac and cheese dumping it on his plate not caring if it mixed with his mashed potatoes. “I’m sorry those girls were so bitchy to you earlier today. I wanted to step in so badly but it seemed like you had it all under control.”

“Thank you but you don’t have to apologize for them.”

“I know.” Jake said shoving more fish into his mouth. “But I always feel bad when people are mean to you. You don’t deserve that.” he said with a mouth full of fish.

“What?” She asked him even though she did hear him. “What did you say?”

“I said-” He stared his mouth still full.

“What are you saying? I can’t understand you.”

“What I’m trying-”

“Jake I don’t know what you’re saying.” 

“Amy-”

“Jake.” She watched him swallow all of his food before speaking again

“I hate you so much.” He said laughing.

“No you don’t.” She said back a large smile on her face. “Maybe if you didn’t talk with food in your mouth. Not very king like you know.”

“Shut up.” Jake said shoving her shoulder slightly but he still smiled and laughed. “I’ll call Terry and tell him that you’re up here bothering me. What do you think the rest of the court is going to think about that?”

Amy fake gasped. “You wouldn't!”

“Terry!” Jake fake shouted and now it was Amy’s turn to shove him slightly.

“You’re such a dork.” She said still laughing ever so slightly.

The conversation died down for a second as Jake finished his fish and Amy watched the lights below twinkle. “So listen.” Jake said. “Not to be rude or anything.”

“Oh gosh.”

“But you’re kind of bad at dancing.”

“Was it that bad?” Amy asked looking at him he only nodded. She buried her head in her hands thinking about all those people that she danced in front of and how they all probably laughed at her.

“But since there is a lot of dancing at these things I was wondering if you wanted me to teach you the basic steps?” 

She looked at him through the cracks of her hands trying to gage whether or not he was serious. “Yeah I would like that.” She said after a second where he didn’t laugh or yell ‘gotcha.” Jake smiled at her as he stood up and offered her his hand which she took.

He led her out further onto the balcony closer to the rail where there was more space. “Alright.” Jake said. “So you have to stand up very straight.” He said straighten out his back as she did the same. “Good.

“Okay.” Jake said grabbing her right hand with his left intertwining their fingers. He raised their arms up to almost shoulder height. He put his hand on her back finding her shoulder blade. “Now you put your arms on my shoulder like at the seam of the shirt.” Amy did what she was told smiling at him as she did.

He moved his feet that way they’re were lined up correctly. “Arlight you see how your feet are kind of between mine?” She nodded looking at the ground. “That should help so that we don’t step on each other.”

“Okay.” Amy said. “I think that was my biggest problem.”

“Oh it definitely was.” Jake said with a smile so that she knew he was teasing her and not trying to be straight up mean. “Alright so pretend there is a box on the floor.” Jake said and you have to create the box with your feet to the beat of the music.” She nodded once. “Alright so I’m going to step forward with one foot and then put my other foot to the right.” He said and she nodded following his motion. “Then I slide my left foot over to meet my right foot and then I take my left foot back to the other corner. Slide my foot back and then complete the box.” 

“Wait.” Amy said. “I’m so confused. Can we just do it?”

“Yeah of course.” Jake said. “Alright so step backwards with one foot.” He said as he stepped forwards. “Now go to the right.” He said and she did the same movement as him. “Slide your left foot with your right.”

“Okay. I think that I got this.” She said. “So I step back and then slide my foot back to meet it?”

“Yep!” Jake said as they did that step. “And then finish the box. “See you got!” Jake said as she finished the last move.

“I did!” She exclaimed high fiving him.

“It wasn’t that hard was it?”

“Not really.” She said. “Can we try it again but faster.”

“Of course.” Jake said counting out loud as the two of them did the steps. “See you got this.” He said after several times where she did it without stepping on his feet. “I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks.” Amy said. “Still think it’s going to be harder to do in heels.”

“Maybe.” Jake said. “You know I wouldn’t care if you didn’t wear them.”

“Oh and your opinion is the only one that matters huh?” 

“Well for this yeah I kinda thought so. I’m the only one that’s choosing who the next Queen is going to be.”

“Touche.” Amy said yawning so ugly. “I should probably go, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said as he walked her to the door. “Goodnight Amy.”

“Goodnight Jake.”


	7. Theres's Trouble Up Ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The formatting on this got really weird so if it’s hard to read I’m sorry I’m going to go back and fix it on my computer later

Amy sat on her bed wearing a casual sundress versus the extravagant ball gowns that she had been wearing. Her hair hand only been slightly curled and Sharon only put a tiny bit of makeup on her. It was still more than Amy was used to, but it was an improvement. 

“It’s just a charity event.” Terry said and Amy relaxed slightly. She could this, it didn’t have to be some big thing. “People like to know that their Queen is generous and what better way to prove that then a charity event.”

“Yeah but it’s all done in vain.” Amy said. “They’re only doing it cause it will look good.”

“Yeah.” Terry agreed. “And other people will be able to see that too.” Terry said to her as she got up off the bed. “Show the people you care.”

“I will donate a thousand dollars.” was the first thing that Amy heard when she arrived to the venue and sure enough it was none other than Elizabeth. The girls behind her then turned and whispered to each other before making their own donations. 

“Miss Amelia would you like to donate anything?” The lady asked Amy when she was at the front of the door.

“Um.” Amy said taking the brochure. The charity was for women who were being abused and trying to get away. “I don’t have any money that I can give you, but after this whole selection thing is done, I would be more than happy to volunteer my time.” Amy said with a smile. The woman smiled warmly back at Amy nodding and thanking her for her kindness. From the corner of her she could see the slight way the Queen nodded her head. 

Amy walked into the large room that was filled with people and press. “Hey.” Terry said catching up to her. “I think that donating your time back there is going to win you a lot of points in people’s eyes. So good job on that.”

“What am I supposed to do now? Is that all this is?”

“It’s stupid I know, but know you’re pretty much just supposed to socialize.” Terry said before being called away. Amy sighed in frustration as she looked around the room trying to find Kylie and Sophia. Kylie was at one corner talking to some girls whose name’s Amy didn’t know, while Sophia was at the other end walking towards Jake.

It took Amy a moment before she found herself heading towards Kylie. Although one eye was always trained on Jake and Sophia who had just reached him. “Hey!” Kylie said.

“Hi.” Amy said grabbing a glass of champagne off of a tray from a host. “How are you guys?” 

“Good.” most of the girls respond. Amy tried to ignore the way Sophia laughed and grabbed onto Jake’s arm. She refused to be that jealous girl but she knew deep down that she was jealous of Sophia right now.

“So you’ve never really told us anything about your family.” Kylie said although it was definitely more of a question.

“Oh.” Amy said tearing her eyes away from Sophia and Jake for a second. “I have seven brother four older three younger. My dad is a gardner and my mom teaches horse riding lessons.” 

“That’s cool. So do you know how to ride a horse?” One of the girls, Amy thought her name was Emma, asked.

“Definitely. There are no Santiago's who don’t know how to ride a horse. She actually taught Jake I mean the prince how to ride.” She prayed that none of these girls would get nasty with her about her relationship with Jake. She didn’t mean to bring it up, it just kind of came out. “What about you guys?”

“Oh I’m kind of boring.” Kylie said. “I’ve got one brother, Kevin, and my dad is a neurosurgeon while my mom is a pharmacist.”

“Fun.” Amy said. “In another life I always thought that I would be a doctor.”

“So what do you want to be now though, I mean besides Queen, if you were to win you can’t really work another job.”

“Yeah.” Amy said shrugging. “I want to be a detective.” She said. “Eventually make police captain.”

“That’s cool.” one of the other girls said as Amy found herself watching Jake and Sophia again. The conversation happening around her quickly became background noise. Sophia wasn’t obnoxious like Elizabeth. When she laughed it seemed genuine which definitely made it worse. Plus Amy could tell that Jake was enjoying talking to her. The way is smile lit up was almost sickening.

\-----

_“Jenny!” Jake shouted running down the hall to where the older girl was. She turned the corner and headed into the kitchen._

_“You’re highness.” Amy heard Jenny say as she quickly followed behind the two of them._

_“Just Jake.” He said casually. Jenny grabbed a stack of dishes off the counter and began loading them into the dishwasher. “Do you want some help?” He asked reaching for a plate before she swatted his hand away._

_“Are you trying to get me fired?” She asked him laughing just a little. “If my boss comes out here and sees the prince helping me load the dishwasher, well let’s just say all hell will break loose.”_

_Jake laughed as he stuffed his hands into his pocket. “Thank you for doing the dishes.” He said rocking back and forth almost nervously. Amy had seen him do it before but it never bothered her in the past. Usually it was just random girls that would be accompanying their parents for some sort of royal business. Sure those girls were pretty, but Jenny was something else. At least Amy though so and clearly Jake did too._

_“Are you thanking me for doing my job?” Jenny asked him._

_“Yeah. I don’t think that we thank the staff enough.”_

_“You’re sweet kid you know that…Jake.” She said trailing off glancing over her shoulder to make sure that there was no one listening that could get her in trouble. Jake smiled the same smile that he did whenever Charles’s dad put out fresh brownies and Amy felt sick to her stomach all of a sudden._

_“Do you know the flower garden by the east wing?” Jake asked a hopeful glint in his eyes._

_“I do.” Jenny said with a small sigh._

_“Do you want to go to lunch there sometime?”_

_Jenny sighed and Amy’s heart was in her throat. “You are so sweet, but you’re just a little too young for me.”_

_“What?” Jake asked. “You’re only seventeen.”_

_“And you’re only twelve.” Jenny replied putting more dishes into the dishwasher._

_“That’s only five years, there are almost twenty years between my parents.”_

_“It’s different when you're older, you’ll understand someday.” Jenny replied. “You’re going to make someone very very happy someday.” She said with a smile before walking out of the kitchen leaving Jake in her silence._

_\-----_

_Amy found that it did not take nearly long as she had thought to make her way to where Jake and Sophia were standing. “Hey!” She said all casually “mind if I but in?”_

_Sophia sighed softly but the smile never left her face. “If you must.” she said before walking away._

_“Hey!” Jake said once it was just the two of them. Or as much so as it was going to get. “I heard about you donating your time, that was really cool.”_

_“Oh. Thanks.” Amy said. “I don’t really have any money or anything to give.” Jake nodded in understanding. “It’s kind of hard being here you know and not being like filthy rich.”_

_“Well I hope no one makes you feel less than them because you don’t have money.”_

_“Not outright.” Amy said shaking her head. “But when they go and donate ten thousands dollars and show up in dresses I could only dream of affording it gets a little tiring. These things are so stupid.” She continued. “There are people actually out there struggling, like the women this charity helps, but some of these girls still only care about the winning the crown.”_

_“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “That’s what bother me about these stupid charity events. Some of these girls are only donating because they know it will make them look good.”_

_“Exactly!” Amy exclaimed. “No one in this room would last a day in Waterdale. Sharing a three bedroom house with seven other people. Only having enough food to feed five of those people. It really puts some of this shit into perspective.” Amy said before being cut off by the King standing to give a toast._

_“You should go back to your seat.” Jake whispered. “Find me later?”_

_“Of course.” Amy whispered making her way back to her chair. She tried to ignore Elizabeth’s glare. When she sat down Sophia turned towards her for a second and maybe it was in her imagination but there was a little bit of ressentiment in her eyes._

_\------_

_“What are you going to do in your free time?” Kylie asked her in the main hall of the castle. “I think I’m going to go walk the grounds.”_

_There was a chattering noise from the stairs standing behind them. Amy turned her attention to the two girls making the racket. Elizabeth and Piper. “I think that the Prince’s room is up this way.” she heard Elizabeth whisper Piper giggled and followed her friend up the stairs. The wrong way towards Jake’s room._

_“Earth to Amy!” Kylie said snapping her fingers in Amy’s face._

_“Sorry.” Amy said. “What were you saying.”_

_“I’m going to go on a walk do you want to go? There’s so much to see but if your father was the gardner you’ve probably already seen it all.”_

_“I’m good. Thank you though.” Kylie nodded before excusing herself out into the warm May air. Amy watched her go for a second wondering if she should’ve gone along. Terry said it was good to make friends. Before she could dwell on it for too much longer her legs began moving in the direction that a ten year old her wanted to go._

_She stopped outside the large double doors that had been pulled shut. She probably shouldn’t go in, but she wanted to so badly. It was practically calling out to her._

_\-----_

__“Do you know how much trouble I am going to be in if we get caught?” Gina asked Amy as she ran her hand over the spine of each book. There were thousands to choose from, how was she supposed to take just one._ _

__“You think that your mom is going to be mad at you for reading?” Amy asked half laughing as she pulled out a book. Lord of the Flies. Gross she thought._ _

__“It’s her private library!” Gina said glancing back at the door once. “I’m all for breaking rules. You want to go bowling without telling father fine. But I am not going to get yelled at for being in a library.”_ _

__Amy pulled out another book. Romeo and Juliet. Perfect. “Well lucky for you, I’m ready to go.”_ _

__“Woah.” Gina said. “You’re going to take that book?” Gina questioned. “You are not the Amy that I know.” Just then there were footsteps and the wide double doors were being thrown open. The queen stood there with her hands on her hips looking down on the two girls._ _

__“What are you two doing in here!” She demanded her hands still placed firmly. “Out!” She said and each girl went running out. Amy dropped the book on the desk and tried to hold back the tears that she definitely felt coming._ _

__“Way to go.” Gina huffed. “I am in so much trouble now. I’m leaving.” Amy watched Gina storm up the stairs to her bedroom. Amy then sat down in the stairwell and put her head in hands allowing the tears to fall. She had been stupid._ _

__After sitting there awhile she became very aware of a presence sitting next to her. She peered through her fingers and saw the Queen sitting next to her holding out the copy of Romeo and Juliet. Amy lifted her fingers from her face and took the book.”I’m sorry that I yelled in there like that. That was uncalled for. When Jake and Charles are in there, they’re usually trying to destroy stuff.”_ _

__Amy giggled slightly. “That sounds like Jake.”_ _

__“It does doesn't it?” The queen asked smiling at Amy. “You’re welcome to take a book any time you want. Just let me know first.”_ _

__Amy flipped open the first page of the book in her hands. “Thank you.” She whispered before the queen got up and headed back into the library closing the door behind her._ _

_\-----_

Amy pushed the large grand doors open and made her way into the library. It was somehow smaller and larger than it was when she was a kid. The ceilings didn’t seem quite as high as they did when she was ten, but back then she didn’t remember there being so many books. 

One book in particular catches her attention. Chess 101. When she she pulls it out, she finds that it is far more worn than the others. The spine on it was falling apart and when she flipped it open a random page from the middle fell out. There was a prominent blue stain on one of the middle pages that seeped it’s way through the back of the book. She smiled to herself putting it back on the shelf where it belonged. 

There was a knocking on the door and Amy quickly turned her head to see the Queen standing there. The ten year old part of her brain took over and she immediately felt her heart rate quicken thinking that she was in trouble. 

“What are you doing in here?” Karen asked not bothering to come inside the room. 

“I’m sorry.” Amy said before saying anything else. “I didn’t really know where else to go and I wanted a book or something to read. I wasn’t able to take any from the library at home. They would go overdue.” 

“It’s fine dear.” Karen said with a soft smile. “I’ve told you before, you’re welcome in here anytime you want.” 

“Thank you.” 

“You know that I’ve always had my eye on you.” The Queen stated. 

“You have?” 

“Of course. Ever since you were a young girl I assumed that you were going to do great things, always so driven. It never surprised me that Jake took to liking you so easily.” Amy smiled sheepishly at the ground. “I really thought that you were the perfect girl.” 

“Thought?” Amy asked. 

“Oh yes.” Karen said. “Opinions change. Sometimes rapidly. You’ll understand someday when your a mother that the people who hurt your children rarely get forgiven.” 

Amy swallowed hard suddenly not liking the way this conversation was headed. “I didn’t-” 

“I know you didn’t mean to cause Jake any pain.” Karen said interrupting her. “But that doesn't mean that you didn't. When you ran away with that _boy_ and only left Jake a letter which you couldn't even give to him yourself. I found that to be act of cowardness.”

Amy was taken aback by her words. There was a burning in her throat that was making its way to her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. Everything happened so fast.” Amy tried to explain. 

“It took Jake a long time to finally let you go. He had moved on, you were out of his life, out of his mind. But then you showed back up here completely unannounced after five years and I’m afraid that Jake has fallen down the rabbit hole again.” Amy stared at the Queen not sure what to say. “At this point I am terrified on my son’s behalf that you are going to get bored and decide to leave again. And I will be here to pick up the pieces of the man you left behind.” 

“I-” Amy said stuttering for a second before finding her words. “I was a stupid teenager. Running away with Teddy was a mistake and I regret the way I ended things with Jake, Gina and Charles. I can’t change the past but I’m trying to change the future. Jake may not pick me, but I’m not walking out of his life again. I’m here to stay.” Amy said taking a deep breath feeling like a weight has been lifted off her chest. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to my room now.” she said slipping past the queen, out of the library and up to her room. 

She makes her way up the staircase and into the hall filled with doors, each on designated for one of the other fourteen girls. It’s quiet up here as most people are still outside wandering around the grounds. Amy’s just about to her door when she hears talking coming from one of the other doors. 

“Yes mom.” She heard Elizabeth to say. How did Elizabeth get a cell phone? Weren’t they not allowed to talk to the outside world. “No they have no idea.” Amy started where she was rooted in the hallway praying that no other girl would come up right now. “Yeah I think he likes me.” Elizabeth continued. “I don’t know! You said that you had something worked out with his dad! Yes everything will be fine. You’ll get the Queen crown and I will get the princess crown just as we discussed. 

Finally something snapped in Amy’s brain and her feet began moving faster than her brain down to Jake’s room. She had to tell someone, anyone really at this point. She quickly found herself outside his door, arm raised ready to knock when she heard the sound of a women’s laugh on the other side. Sophia. 

Amy stopped for a second trying to listen to what they were saying. All she could hear was the two of them laughing about something. Of course Jake’s door’s were thicker than the ones upstairs. She raised her hand to knock again when she heard Jake’s voice clear as day. “I really like you.” She felt her heart stop and her blood freeze. Before she knew it, she was walking away and there were tears burning in her eyes. 

That should’ve been her. In a different life that could’ve been her. Had she just said yes to his stupid romantic styles revelation that would’ve been her. She could’ve been his and he could’ve been hers but she was too stupid to do anything about. So she made her way back to her room mentally cursing eighteen year old Amy while vowing to stop at nothing to make sure she got the life she could've had. 


	8. Throws Me Back To When I Had You Closer

Amy woke up the next morning, her mind still very much on her revelation last night. She wants Jake. She wants to win this stupid competition. So it was time that she started acting like it. She got out of bed a dug through the dresses that Terry had bought her, she pulled out a sundress and quickly got dressed putting her hair into a low ponytail. She still hated wearing this stupid stuff but she needed to show people that she was serious and not going anywhere.

The dining hall was bustling with activity as girls made their plates heading towards tables. Amy scanned the room until she locked eyes on Charles. “Hey!” Amy said making her way over to him. “Have you seen Jake?”

“Not today no.” Charles said continuing to put pieces of bacon out for people to eat. 

“Okay.” Amy said sighing. “Tell him that I want to speak to him at some point.”

“Alright.” Charles said before heading back into the kitchen to bring out more food. Amy grabbed a plate putting the food that she wanted on it. She tried to ignore the states that she could feel from the other girls. After her plate was full and she had orange juice she made her way towards where Kylie and Sophia were sitting. _Sophia._ Her major competition. The girl that Jake said he really liked.

“Hi!” She said to each of them. “How were your guys nights?”

“Mine was great!” Kylie said. “Walking around the grounds was a great way for me to clear my mind. I’ve always really like nature. I even found the stables. Their horses are so gorgeous!”

“Sounds like you had a good night.” Sophia said.

“What about you?” Amy asked even though she knew exactly where Sophia had ended up.

“Oh I just turned in early. Needed some time to catch up on sleep. You?”

She was playing it cool. Amy had to give her credit that was a smart strategy. If the other girls knew what she was doing last night they would be on their toes, which is the exact opposite of what they want. “I just went to the library got a couple of books. It was great.”

“That’s cool.” Kylie said. “I heard that today we are going to have to give speeches about how we are courageous on a day to day basis.”

“Yes.” Sophia agreed. “I heard that as well.”

“Fun.” Amy said sarcastically.

\------

“Well by now the cat is out of the bag!” The Queen exclaimed later that day at a large press conference. Amy glanced behind her at what seemed like thousands of camera. “All fifteen girls will have to give improvised speeches about what makes them courageous. Courage is a huge part of being a Queen, something that I know my son is looking for. So without further ado, I would like to invite Miss Elizabeth of Far Hills to the stage.”

Elizabeth floated down the aisle wearing a large ball gown dress. Her hair was done in a fancy updo and she was wearing far more makeup than the rest of the girls. “Apparently She didn’t get the memo.” Kylie whispered to Amy gesturing at everyone else’s casual clothes. Amy snorted trying to not laugh and disrupt the entire event. 

“I’m a very picky eater.” Elizabeth started and it was definitely going to be harder to not laugh than she thought. “Like to an extreme. Our cook has to make special meals solely for me.” There was laughter at the back of the room and Amy rolled her eyes. “But sometimes I try things that I would never even dare trying. Like pizza for example. Such a common man’s food. So bland and tasteless.”

“She thinks trying pizza is courageous?” Amy whispered to Kylie who shook her head in agreeance. “I mean how much more of a diva could she be?” Amy glanced up behind Elizabeth where all the royals were sitting. Gina looked bored out of her mind occasionally whispering something to Rosa, while Jake continued to roll his eyes anytime she talked.

“But that’s not all I do. I often volunteer at soup kitchens. Unpaid of course. We got down to the one in Waterdale. Gosh I can’t remember it’s name now, Amy you’re from there what is it called?”

The room silently around her and Amy’s face got red. She glanced up at met Jake’s eyes. Through his gaze she could tell that he was screaming ‘what the fuck’. “Uh. There’s like thousands of them. I don’t know which one you volunteered at.”

“Oh okay.” Elizabeth said. “Any way. It’s really humbling to go to that part of the island and see how poor those people are. I mean they truly have nothing. Really makes me think.”

“It makes her courageous to go to a poor part of the island?” Kylie whispered.

“Thank you for your speech.” The Queen said ushering Elizabeth off the stage.

“That was a trainwreck.” Sophia whispered to the two girls. They both nodded as the next girl made her way to the stage. Soon the voices of whoever was talking became background noise to Amy’s thoughts. Mainly what she was going to say when she got up on that stage. How was she supposed to come up with a speech about why she was courageous on the fly. But yet her thoughts always seemed to circle back to Jake. 

“Great speech Abigail.” The Queen said applauding the girl who walked off the stage. “Next up we have Sophia.”

Sophia made her way gracefully up the stage and Amy watched Jake’s eyes follow her. She would’ve killed to have been a fly on the wall last night in his room. It was killing her inside to know what they were talking about and why Jake said that he liked her. 

“Hello everyone.” Sophia said tapping the microphone several times to get everyone’s attention. “I’m going to be quite honest, I don’t think that I am the most courageous person. I’ve never ran into a flaming building for a dog as Madison has.” There were some laughs from people in the audience. “But I have done some things that were out of my comfort zone.” 

“Most of you don’t know this about me but I have two fears, the ocean and heights. Odd pair I know, but they terrify me. As a child I never swam in the ocean. Terrified that a wave was going to take me out to sea and I would never see my parents again.” People laughed again and it hit Amy that Sophia was everything they were looking for in a Queen. No matter how much you wanted to dislike her you couldn't. When she told stories you felt like you were there like you were a part of the Perez family vacation.

“During one vacation when I was in highschool my siblings all went out to go scuba diving in the middle of the ocean which was a big no no for me. My mother talked me into to the boat and I was already a nervous wreck when we got so far from shore that I couldn’t see the beach anymore. One thing lead to another and somehow or another I got talked into one of those masks and found myself diving off the boat. When I was submerged into the water and saw all the fish and the ecosystem that they’ve created I realized how small I really was. It sounds strange to say that I felt small because of fish. I mean they’re tiny right.” More laughs and when Amy looked up she noticed that even Jake was laughing, the corner of his eyes scrunched upwards.

“The ocean may be large and vast and yes a little scary, but isn't that kind of the point? There is beauty in scary things.” Sophia concluded before stepping off the stage. Applause filled the room as she made her way back down to sit next to Amy and Sophia.

“Good job.” Amy whispered and she really wished that she didn’t mean it, but like she said before there was just something likeable about the girl.

“Wonderful speech.” The Queen said when the applause had died down. “Next we have someone that I’ve known since she was a little girl, Miss Amelia.” Amy got up from her chair and made her way to the stage where she grabbed the microphone out of a stand. She took a public speaking seminar, she could demand a room’s attention just like Sophia did. 

“Hi. Most of you probably have no idea who I am so I’m going to start out with an introduction.” Amy said smiling for all the flashing cameras. “I’m Amy Santiago and although I was born in Waterdale and live there now, I was actually raised right here on the palace. Right next to Prince Jake, Princess Gina, and Charles.” She tried to ignore how unnatural saying Prince Jake felt.

“If they haven’t already, I’m sure that the media will soon be digging into my past looking for my deepest darkest secrets, things that could bring me down, so I thought I would be helpful and do it for them.” There was a moment of silence as people wondered if she was serious. She wasn’t actually about to spill all her secrets up here was she? Amy glanced back over her shoulder to where all the royals were sitting. She made brief contact with Jake who gave her a small smile and nod.

“When I was eighteen I had a boyfriend who also lived on the palace grounds.” Amy started. “His name was Teddy wells, he was two years older than me. We knew each other because he was Jake. Prince Jake’s royal guard. I fell in love with him probably too fast, but I was eighteen years old what else is new.” There were a couple of laughs and Amy forced a smile onto her face. “He uh saved my life at one point.” She said and when she glanced back at Jake he wasn’t looking at her but his fists were clenched by his sides. 

“There was an incident which I’m sure that everyone is aware of but Teddy was fired from his job. He then asked me to marry him and leave the palace with him. As an eighteen year old I only saw what was right in front of me and not what was around me, so I said yes and left with him.” She took a deep breath. “Things happened very fast and I actually left without saying goodbye to all my friends. Some of whom I’d known my entire life.”

She didn’t bother glancing back at Jake. There was no point, she knew what was on his face right now. That same puppy dog sad eyes that she had desperately tried to avoid a mere five years ago. “So I think that it shows courage to show back up here. It wasn’t easy to do and I wrestled with the idea of just showing up out of the blue over and over again. But I’m glad that I did. They deserved better than what they got from me and I think that I would be really mad at myself if I didn’t at least try to offer an olive branch.” Amy said putting the microphone back into the stand. “Thank you.”

“That was really great.” Kylie whispered when Amy sat back down.

“Thanks.” Amy replied getting comfortable in her seat before the next girl made her way to the stage. There weren’t too many left to go and soon the entire thing was over. Amy was the first one out of her seat heading towards Jake. She wanted to tell him what she heard Elizabeth say last night, yet there were thousands of people in her way and he just kept getting further and further away.

“I think that you should just go home to _Waterdale_ ” Elizabeth said now standing in her way to reaching Jake. Madison and Summer were standing next to her nodding their head.

“I really don’t want to do this with you right now Elizabeth.” Amy said pushing past her searching the room for Jake 

“Oh please.” Elizabeth said. “Do you actually think that you’re going to win the Prince?” She asked with a cruel laugh. Amy stopped dead in her tracks before turning around to face the devil. “I mean come on.” Elizabeth continued. “It’s really cute that Holt put you in this or whatever but there is no way that you’re winning. People may be buying this whole ‘I’m poor poor me’ act right now but they won’t be forever.”

“If you think that Jake would ever chose you over any other girl here then you’re in for a rude awakening. I don’t know if you remember this or not, I grew up with him, there was a point where he called me his best friend. And as his best friend, I can tell you that he likes nice people not divas like you.”

“You _were_ his best friend, back when you were what ten?” Elizabeth asked and her little possy laughed. “But you abandon him. You chose someone else, don’t think for one second that he will ever forget that. He is your second choice. The rest of us here would cut off our pinkie finger to be with him but you walked away.”

“Go to hell Elizabeth.” Amy said before storming off

\-----

Later that night, Amy paced back and forth outside his door. Her brain was moving a thousand miles and it felt like the only person who could slow it down was Jake. Finally she swallowed her pride and knocked on his door. It only took another minute before the door was being opened and he was standing on the other side wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. “Hi. Do you care if I come in?”

“No not at all.” Jake said moving out of the way for her to come into the room. He closed the door behind her and sat down on her bed waiting for her to say something. “What’s on your mind?” He asked noticing the way that she was pacing.

“Elizabeth. She’s bad I don’t know exactly how but she is.” Amy said rambling trying to come up with an explanation that made even a fraction of sense. “I overheard her on the phone talking to someone. She was saying something about definitely winning and whoever she was on the phone with would get the queen crown and she would get the princess crown.” Amy continued until her eye spotted the chessboard in the corner of the room. “Is that a uh- you uh- still play?” She asked and all of a sudden it made sense to her why that Chess book was so worn

Jake arched his eyebrows at her clearly confused by her sudden change in topic. “Chess? Yes I still play, but I’m just as bad as it.”

“Do you want to play?” Amy asked before she could stop herself.

\-----

_“Alright. Let’s start with the basics” Amy said sitting across from Jake. “Pawns, these little guys here.” She said picking up one of her pawns. “They can move one space forward if that space is not occupied. To capture they can go diagonal.”_

_“Okay.” Jake said. “What about this guy?” Jake asked holding up the Queen._

_“That’s the Queen, it can pretty much go wherever it wants. You can go vertical, horizontal, or diagonal.”_

_“Cool.” Jake said picking up the King. “So he can only go one square horizontal, diagonal, or vertical. He’s the main goal, knock him off he board and it’s game over.”_

_“Gotcha.” Jake said._

_“So the tower thing can go horizontal or vertical. The bishop can go diagonal and the knight can make an L or a 7 got it?” She asked._

_“No.” Jake said. “But that’s okay, I’ll figure it out as I go.”_

_“Okay.” Amy said with a small laugh._

\------

“I will play with you.” Jake said getting up from his bed and sitting down across from the chess board. “If you finishing telling me about Elizabeth.”

“Yes.” Amy said sitting down across from him. “I don’t really know much more, but she’s definitely here for some exterior motive.” She began setting up her pieces as Jake did the same. “I mean I kind of figured just cause she is trying so hard. It’s clear that she wants to win, but then again every girl here wants to win so.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “It doesn't really matter though.” He said. “You can go first.” Amy moved on of her pawns before Jake continued. “It’s not like I was going to choose her or anything.”

“Of course not.” Amy said as Jake moved one of his pawns. “Why did you keep playing?”

He shrugged his shoulders, a clear sign of there being a reason that he didn’t want to talk about. “Don’t know.” Jake said studying the board. “I guess that I just always had fun when we were playing.” He moved his bishop and Amy smiled mentally plotting her next move. “Why did you leave Teddy?” Jake asked not even bothering to look up.

“Oh.” Amy said and now she was the one shrugging her shoulders. “We both wanted different things.”

“Different things how?” Jake asked pressing the idea the same way she used to do to him when they were younger. 

“He wanted me to be a stay at home mom. He wanted to have kids within the year. I just wanted to have fun, travel some, go out for dinner and talk about something other than pilsners.”

“God he was so boring.”

“He could be.” Amy agreed. “It was the stay at home mom part that pushed me over the edge. I wanted to be out in the world doing something, some greater good.”

“What do you think you would be doing if you won the crown?” He asked her.

“Well you guys go to a lot of charity events. You do a lot of good for the community. I don’t want to be a princess, that’s stupid and kind of elementary, but at least you’re actually doing something.”

“You don’t want kids?”

“I do.” Amy said after a moment of thinking. “I want kids, i just didn’t want his kids. I do imagine having a family someday. I’ve always pictured loving husband, a daughter and two sons or something. The amount and gender of the kids changes. But with Teddy I just never saw him in the husband role. He just wasn’t what I wanted. What about you? You want kids?”

“Yeah.” Jake said. “Kind of.” He said backtracking. “I mean I want to have kids but I just can’t imagine having a kid and being like ‘hey you were born into and when I die you are going to get rule this entire island. You have to spend your entire life being proper and perfect, heaven forbid you act like a kid.’ It’s just kind of messed up.”

“I get that.” Amy said. “But you’re not going to not have kids just because of the stupid crown, i mean that’s kind of stupid.”

“I’m sure that I will have kids. It’s kind of expected after all. And I do want them, I just wish that they weren’t already cursed before they were born.”

“Maybe they will like it though.” Amy countered. “Your dad seems to like being king.” 

“That’s because he’s power hungry.” Jake said back. “You know that I’m not like that and I refuse to pick one of these girls that is therefore our kids will not be power hungry. Genetics.”

“That’s wrong and I could take the time to explain to you why but I think that I just beat you. Checkmate.”

“Damn it!” Jake exclaimed. 

“A good chess player always has their next move in mind.” Amy said a small smirk on her face.

“You’re the worst you know that?”

“Yeah.” Amy said standing up. “I should probably go. It’s getting pretty late.”

“Oh yeah. Good call.” Amy nodded.

“Can I ask you one more thing?” Amy asked him standing in his doorway.

“Sure.”

“Why are you even participating in this selection. I know that you don’t have to. It would’ve been a big deal but you could’ve declined so why didn’t you?”

“Holt said that he would find my dream girl and I believe him.” Jake said and Amy nodded at his answer she could tell that he meant it but also that he didn’t want her to push it. 

“Goodnight Jake.”

“Night.” Jake said watching Amy go down the hall before closing the door behind her leaning his head against the wood. He then walked across his room to grab his phone shooting Charles a quick message. 

Like the good friend he was, Charles was knocking on his door a mere five minutes later. “What’s up Jakey?” Charles asked when Jake opened the door for him allowing him into the large room. 

“I like her again. To be honest I’m not sure I ever stopped but I definitely like her again.”

“Amy?!” charles exclaimed far too excited. “You like Amy again. Oh my gosh you two are going to live happily ever after after all.”

“Charles please come down.” Jake said pacing the same way Amy had done earlier. He ran his hand through his hair not sure what else to do with it. “She’s not here for the right reasons.”

“What do you mean?” Charles asked. “She’s here, how could she be here for the wrong reason?”

“She’s here for the check that her family is getting while she is here. She’s not here for me. She doesn't like me. What if I tell her how I feel and she runs away again? I can’t live without her for another five years and I can not be rejected by her for a second time.”

\------

_Jake swayed nervously in the meadow his hand clutching the flowers that he had picked up. He was nervous that was obvious, but the feeling in his chest overtook his nerves the second he saw her round the corner._

_“Hey what’s up” She asked clearly seeing how nervous he was. He took a deep breath. They were alone, it was just the two of them, a rare occurrence in his life._

_“Hi.” He said. “I don’t really…” He started trailing off._

_“What’s wrong Jake?” She asked stepping closer to him. She put a comforting hand on his arm. She thought it was comforting but it really just made this a hundred times harder for him. “You can tell me anything. Best Friends remember?”_

_“Yeah.” Jake said. “It’s just that I kind of want to be more than best friends.” He said and it took a second for Amy to realize what he meant as she dropped her hand from his shoulder._

_“I’m with Teddy.” She said slowly trying to process what he just told. “I uh have a boyfriend.” Jake watched her swallow hard and he felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest._

_“I know.” he said. “I don’t mean to be a dick or anything, I just needed you to know how I feel.”_

_“I can’t do anything-” She started trailing off for a moment. “I’m sorry.”_

_“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize, I just wanted to tell you how I felt. I’m not asking you to do anything about it I just wanted you to know.”_

_“Are things going to be weird now though?”_

_“Nope nope nope.” Jake said casually. “Doesn't have to be weird unless you make it weird. Friends.”_

_“Best friends.” Amy corrected him._

\-----

“I know.” Charles said “and that sucked it really did. But I do think that she is here for you now.”

“She’s not Charles.”

“Then you clearly don’t see the way she looks at you.” Charles said and Jake stopped pacing to look at Charles. “When she thinks that no one is looking she sneaks glances at you. Sometimes even when other people are looking. She likes you.

“Charles-”

“Jake.” charles interrupted “do you honestly think that she would put up with how nasty some of these girls are if she didn’t like you? If she didn’t like you she would’ve left a long time ago, but she’s still here. So swallow your damn pride and do something about it.”


	9. Tiny Little Terrors Won't Get Out Of My Brain

“Today is the big day!” Amy woke up to Terry yelling at her as he pulled her blinds wide open allowing sunlight to streak into her room.

“What?” Amy asked groggily rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

“The strawberry festival!” Terry exclaimed. “The biggest days of the year around here.”

“Oh yeah.” Amy said. “I forgot about that.” She spent a lot of time as a kid at the Strawberry festival. When the strawberries were finally ripe and ready to be picked the entire island would come together to celebrate. It was a big deal. Kind of stupid, but a big deal. It dated back centuries and at this point was done more for tradition than anything else. 

“Get up!” Terry shouted at her. “It’s a big day. All the girls are going to be competing in a pie baking contest.” 

“Oh god what is this the 1920s?” 

“You’re going to like the prize for winning.” Terry said as an incentive to get her out of bed.

\-----

Later that day she was standing in the blistering hot sun. Obnoxious music was playing in the background as thousands of people milled about. Some stopped at their tents to see what they were up to, others just kept walking.

“Strawberries are a big deal heal on Summerhill.” Gina said into the microphone standing at the front of the tent. “I still remember trying to plant my own when I was younger in the garden. It did not go over well to say the least.” She looked down at the page written for her sighing loudly into the microphone. “Im not going to read all this.” She said “We’re doing a strawberry pie contest, the winner gets alone time with Jake. Supplies over there.” Gina said dropping the mic. 

The entire tent erupted into chaos as girls pushed each other out of the way trying to get their hands on the ingredients to make the pie. Meanwhile Amy didn’t even know where to start. “If you need help I have the receipt sheet right here!” charles called out. “But be warned you want your pie to taste different.”

“Different as in inedible?” Amy asked him as she grabbed one of his sheets.

“Oh come on Amy.” He said “Get into the spirit. This is fun.” she shook her head before heading towards where all the baking stuff was. 

She grabbed a pie shell, sugar, cornstarch, strawberry gelatin, and the fresh strawberries. Even she couldn't deny that they did smell amazing. Lastly she grabbed a thing of whip cream. Amy made her way over to where Kylie had set up her pie. She was far further along in the process than Amy was. “I’ve got to win this.” Kylie said. “I haven’t had alone time with Jake yet.”

“Where’s your recipe sheet?” Amy asked noticing that Kylie only had supplies. 

“Oh I don’t have one. I’m making my grandmother’s recipe.”

“That’s really cool.” Amy said as she followed the directions dumping cornstarch, water and sugar into a bowl and stirring. “At least yours isn’t going to taste the same as the rest of ours.”

“Yeah. No offense or anything but hopefully that means that I will win.”

“Well I wish the best of luck to you.” Amy said continuing to try her best to make her pie. Kylie walked away to put her in the oven. When Amy looked around everyone else seemed to be on that same step. “Charles.” She hissed and Charles came walking over towards her. “Will you help me please? I want to win.” 

Charles looked hesitant at first before he schoched her over and started to mix things in a bowl. As she watched him start to stir, regret came sweeping “Nevermind.” Amy said suddenly. “I want to win but I want to win this thing fair and square.”

“You’re funeral.” Charles said before walking away. Amy ignored him and tried her best to follow the instruction printed on the page. It shouldn’t be that hard right. Finally she finished and was ready to put her pie in the oven. She very carefully walked it over and put it in the oven and then set a timer on her phone.

“Want to walk around while we wait?” Kylie asked. “Charles is going to take them out of the oven and deliver them to the contest.”

“Sure.” Amy said following Kylie out of the tent. “It’s hot out here.” Amy remarked standing outside the tent. “Like really hot.” She added fanning herself for effect. 

“Do you know which one is the Prince’s tent? Kylie asked looking around. “I’ve heard that he’s got one for himself and friends somewhere.”

“No I have no idea where that is.” Amy said turning her attention to the giant slide. “You want to do the slide.”

“Oh I don’t think-”

“Come on it will be fun!” Amy said grabbing Kylie by the wrist and heading towards the slide. They climbed up the ladder to the top where Kylie sat down ready to go. In the flashing lights and all the people, Amy saw Jake standing near the bottom of the slide, when they made eye contact he waved at her. Amy noticed that Kylie waved back as well, she bit her lip trying to decide if he was waving at her or Kylie.

“Are you sure about this?” Kylie asked.

“Yes.” Amy said. “It’ll show people that you know how to let your hair down and have fun. Now slide down this slide.” 

“Okay.” Kylie said before pushing herself off and plumenting downwards screaming the entire way. Amy tried not to laugh but it was honestly really funny. She sounded like her seven year old brother. 

Amy sat down at the edge of the slide for a moment taking in the view of the entire fairground. There were people everywhere and the flashing light was blinding. Still she pushed off and slid down the slide hitting the barrier at the bottom. “That was so much fun!” Kylie exclaimed.

“Right?” Amy asked. She looked back through the crowd for Jake, but he was nowhere to be seen. “I’m going to go use the restroom real quick, meet you back here?”

“Yeah of course, I’m going to do it again though.” Kylie said before starting back up the ladder while Amy made her way towards where she thought that the restroom was. It was going to be nasty she tried to prepare herself as best as she could. 

The bathroom is everything that Amy expected. The stalls were far tinier than she expected however. “Everything is going to be okay mother I promise.” She heard Elizabeth say. Instinctively Amy raised her feet up above the ground so that she would not know that Amy was in here.

This time however it wasn’t just Elizabeth talking, there was an older woman speaking as well. “How can you be so sure? What if Jacob doesn't pick you in a couple of weeks?”

“King Roger said that he would. He guaranteed that I would be the next princess and when after my coronation, he will leave Karen and you will become the next Queen.” Amy put her hand over her mouth in shock. She left her stupid phone back at the main tent so there was no way that she could record this.

“Are you going to win the pie contest?” The older woman asked. “It’s crucial that you get him to like you.”

“I’m going to win it.” Elizabeth said. “I switched the salt and sugar. So everyone’s pie except mine is going to be disgusting thus giving me the time with the Prince.”

“Good.” The older woman said.

“Madeline!” A voice from outside called. “Are you in there?” Amy thought that it was maybe the King’s voice but she wouldn't be sure.

“Yes give me a second.” Madeline shouted back before exiting the bathroom. It was only another minute before Elizabeth also excited allowing Amy to finally flush the toilet and wash her hands. By the time she made it back outside Kylie was long gone and all the girls were congregation in the main tent again.

Amy quickly made her way over there where Jake, Gina, Charles and Rosa were sitting at the front judging pies. “How is that fair if they know whose is whose?” Amy whispered to Sophia.

“We’ve got numbers, they have no idea whose pie they’re eating. Where were you?”

“The restroom.” Amy said not wanting to elaborate. She watched them each eat the pies, their faces scrunching up in disgust and Amy knew exactly why. She waited patiently until they were done before they announced that they were ready to chose the winner. 

“I take cooking very very seriously.” Charles said. “And not going to lie, most of these pies were awful.” there were gasps in the crowd but Amy kept her gaze on a smiling Elizabeth. “Number nine is without a doubt the clear winner.” 

“That’s me!” Elizabeth chimed jumping up and down. It took everything in Amy to not run across the tent floor and throw the girl to the ground. 

“Congratulations Elizabeth!” Charles said his eye’s meeting Amy’s. Nobody else would be able to see it, but Amy knew that there was the smallest bit of sadness behind his eyes. 

\------

Amy paced back and forth in front of her bed trying to decide what to do. Elizabeth wasn’t with Jake yet, she could easily go tell him everything it shouldn’t be that hard. That is if she could get past all the guards, it hasn’t been a problem in the past though. This shouldn’t be a debate. She should be walking down his hall right now to tell Jake that Elizabeth cheated.

Sighing in frustration she threw open her door ready to go tell Jake everything. She started to flee her room before running square into someone. “Amy oh my gosh I’m so sorry.” Amy’s blood froze hearing his voice. She was dreaming. He wasn’t here.

“Teddy.” She said taking a step back into her room. Unfortunately Teddy followed her. 

“I know long time no see, but I thought that we needed to talk.”

“No.” Amy said trying to move past him. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

“Sure we do.” Teddy said. “You ran away from this life with me. You told me that you were happy over and over again and then one day you just file for divorce out of the blue? And now you’re here competing for the crown and for Jake I mean what the hell Amy?”

“Why are you even here Teddy?” Amy shouted him slightly more mad than she meant to but her time was going away. Pretty soon Elizabeth was going to be knocking on Jake’s door for her two hours of alone time.

“I just want to talk this doesn't have to some big deal.”

“Fine.” Amy said. “Whatever gets you out of here the fastest.”

“That’s the spirit.” Teddy said in fake sarcasm that she had grown to hate. 

“What do you want to know?”

“Why did you leave me?” Teddy asked straight off the bat. “I thought that we had something good going.”

“I didn’t want kids you did and I definitely don’t want to be a stay at home mom. I wasn’t going to be your trophy wife.”

“You think that Jake doesn't want kids?” Teddy asked. “You don’t think that you’re not going to have Jake’s babies?” Teddy asked with a bit of hate in his voice.

“I didn’t want _your_ babies Teddy.” Amy said with the same amount of hate. “You and me it just wasn’t working. I wasn’t happy and I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“You’ve changed so much.” Teddy said getting up and heading towards the door. “You’re not the Amy that I used to know.”

“Not the Amy that you used to know? What the hell does that mean?” She screamed at him just as he opened the door. 

“You’re one of them now. One of the stuck up royal girls that you swore you’d never be. You’re no better than them Amy. It would be great if he picked you because your head is already so far up your ass.” 

“You don’t get to come in here and tell me-” Amy started to scream at him while storming at him, but she was cut off by his lips against hers. It took her brain a second to register it, but he was kissing her. Teddy Wells was kissing her again as if nothing had changed.

The eighteen year old part of her wanted to kiss him, got goosebumps when his hand wrapped around the small of her back to pull her closer. The twenty three year old her however, was very aware that this was not something that she wanted. That Teddy was not who she wanted anymore.

Time seemed to freeze after what felt like forever but was probably only a couple of seconds, Amy pushed Teddy off her. “Get out!” She yelled at him pushing him out her bedroom door. “I will call Rosa.” Teddy’s facial expression changed drastically at the mention of the curly haired mean guard. You didn’t mess with Rosa around here. 

She sat on the other side of her door for a second allowing the tears to fall down her cheeks. She had to be dreaming, there was no way that Teddy just showed up here again out of the blue like that. She checked her watch and realized that she still had time to go talk to Jake if she hurried. So she wiped the tears from her eyes and hurried out of her bedroom towards the hall where his was.

When she approached his door though, she was Elizabeth standing as if she was waiting for Amy. “You!” Amy said when she approached the girl. “I’m going to get you kicked out of this entire competition.”

“Oh is someone jealous that I won the pie contest?” Elizabeth asked in a mockery tone. “It must be so hard seeing him with someone else when you’ve wanted him for all those years. Too bad that he’s never or will never want you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amy corrected her, very much remembering the sad look in Jakes eyes at the meadow telling her that he wanted to be more than friends and how his eyes got even sadder when she told him she was with Teddy. “I heard you talking to your mother I know that you sabotaged those pies don’t act all high and mighty. I know that you two have a little plan, and I hate to be the one to ruin it.”

“I hate to be the one to ruin _your_ plan.” Elizabeth said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “But I’m not sure that people on the island, the king of queen and the prince would like it if these pictures got released to the press.” 

Elizabeth showed Amy her phone, photos of her kissing Teddy a mere two minutes ago. “How. How did you- I wasn’t-”

“Cat got your tongue?” Elizabeth asked. “I can see the headline already. “Prince betrayed by Amy kissing ex husband on palace grounds.” Elizabeth leaned down closer to Amy’s face “If I were you I would play my cards very carefully. Just one press of a button and every newspaper on this island has these pictures.” She returned to her normal posture before knocking on the door. “Have a good night!” She said as Amy watched dumbfoundedly. "You know I will." The door swung open enough that Elizabeth could come in, but not enough that Jack could see who else was out there.

When the door closed Amy swore that her heart stopped. She made her way back to her room closing the door behind and throwing herself in bed not even bothering to put on pjs or anything. She just wanted to sleep this all off and come up with a new game plan in the morning.


	10. I Wish They Knew Just How I Felt

It was earlier the next morning when Amy was awoken to banging on her door. It was persistent enough that Amy got out of bed far quicker than she would’ve otherwise. “I’m coming chill out!” Amy shouted looking around her bedside table for her glasses. Still the bagning never stopped. 

She threw the door open totally ready to yell at whoever was banging when Jake stormed into her room slamming the door shut behind him. “Why the hell is Teddy here?” Jake yelled at her.

“I don’t know.” Amy said calmly. “I really wish that I had an answer but I don't.”

“I haven’t seen him in forever.” Jake said significantly colder than earlier. “I guess the last time I saw him was when he let someone stab me.”

“Oh come on.” Amy said. “He didn’t let that guy stab you.”

“Maybe we are remembering things differently but I kind of remember him flirting with you and then me lying on the dirty bar floor slowly bleeding to death.”

“Yeah okay that’s exactly how it went down.”

“Wait.” Jake said. “You’re not going to argue more? I had like ten more points prepared.”

“Why would I argue something that I know I’m going to lose?”

“Touche.” Jake said with a smile. “We’re going up north today to go skiing and so help me God if he’s there.”

“I highly doubt he will be invited.” Amy said. “I don’t think that he exactly gets along with your parents considering that he let their only son be stabbed.”

“True.” Jake agreed with a smile.

\------

“This is a really nice lodge.” Sophia said to Kylie and Amy as they walked up the long driveway. “Although I must say, it is freezing out here.”

“So cold.” Kylie agreed her hands wrapped around herself for warmth. Amy shrugged and continued walking. She had never been here before. When they were younger there were times when Jake and Gina would leave and come up here but Amy and Charles were never invited. Amy didn’t mind as she didn’t know how to ski, but it always tore Charles to pieces. 

“Amy!” Terry shouted as she walked into the lodge. “Your room is up this way.” After saying goodbye to Sophia and Kylie and promising to meet up with them later she follows Terry to her room.

“How long are we going to be here?”

“Just today and tomorrow. I love it up here though. This lodge is for royals only so being up here is a real privilege.”

“Okay.” Amy said throwing her bag onto the bed and pulling out a winter coat. “I assume that we are going skiing?” 

“Yes do you know how to ski?”

“Not a chance.”

\-----

“Size seven please.” Amy said to the man taking people’s shoe sizes. There were people all around her trying to get their ski equipment. She wondered how many of these girls actually knew how to ski. 

Amy found a seat in the back corner of the room where she began to lace up her shoes. “Hey.” Jake said sitting down next to her.

“Hey.” She said back. “This is a really nice place.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “Do you know how to ski?”

“Nope.”

“Do you want me to help you before you have to go out there in front of all the cameras?” Jake asked with the slightest bit of twinkle in his eyes.

“Yes please.” Jake stood up first grabbing the ski poles and her hand. He led her out into the cold never dropping her hand. “Is there always snow up here?”

“Yep. It’s winter all year long in Antlers.”

“Gross.” Amy said still very aware of her hand in his. Jake stopped and dropped her hand and she almost reached for it back before she stopped herself. He threw the skis down in front of her.

“Alright step into these.” He said. She did as she was told and he leaned down to fasten her feet into the skis. “Learning to walk in them is honestly the hardest part. I think at least.” Jake stood up from he was. “So if you want to stop then you need to push your front tip of skis together and push your heels out.” He said demonstrating. 

“Okay.” Amy said trying the motion.

“To move put your poles on either side of each other and push yourself forward.” Jake said once again showing her what he meant. 

“Alright.” Amy said trying the motion almost falling over in the process. Jake started to move towards her to catch her, but she got herself back up on her own. “I’m going to try again.” Jake nodded and watched her try to move around some more. “I think I got it.”

“Cool.” Jake said. “You want to try the baby slope?” Amy looked at him apprehensively “I’ll be right there with you the whole way.”

“Okay then yeah let’s do it.”

“Cool.” Jake said again slowly making his way towards the baby slope with Amy following carefully behind him. “You ready?” Jake asked at the top of the hill.

“No but I’m just going to go.” she said taking off. Jake quickly followed her trailing close behind her. “I’m doing it!” She shouted turning around to look at him. Jake who was right behind her watched as she slowly feel to the ground. Quickly he reached and caught her before she fell to the ground.

When he looked down at her there was something new in her eyes, something that he had never seen before. He watched her every move carefully, the way she bit on the bottom of her lip ever so slightly and the way her eyes were trained on his as if he was the only thing that mattered right now. He swallowed hard and before he knew what he was doing, he was leaning down his eyes closed and she was leaning up towards him.

“Jacob!” His father called out him “Get in here right now.” 

Amy cleared her throat. “Uh thanks.”

“No problem.” Jake said as the two of them made their way back to the room where everyone else was getting ready to ski. Although his father said to hurry and get back, Jake went as slow as Amy was going making sure that she was not going to fall over again.

\-----

Jake found Amy again later when she was taking off her snow boots. “Hey.” he said sitting down next to her. “How was skiing?”

“Actually not that bad.” Amy said. “Most of these don’t know how to ski either and they didn’t have someone go through the basic motions with them.” 

“That’s good.” Jake said nodding his head before the two of them fell into awkward silence.

“Can we talk later.” Amy said after a moment. Silence with Jake was unbearable. “About what happened earlier?”

“Oh yeah of course.” Jake said nodding awkwardly. “You can uh come to my room later I guess.”   
“Okay.”

\-----

A couple of hours later, Amy was knocking on Jake’s door trying to calm her nerves. She almost kissed him but his dad interrupted them. It was like they were teenagers all over again. Except she never wanted to kiss him when she was a teenager. Well she did, but she pushed those feelings down for years.

“Hey.” Jake said softly stepping out of the way for her to join him in her room. The second that she walked through the door there was a noticeable temperature change. 

“It’s freezing in here.” She said wraphing her arms around herself. 

“Oh yeah sorry.” Jake said. “I was going to get in the hottub.” He said moving towards the double door that had been thrown open.

“Wait!” Amy said when he started to close them. “You have a hot tub out there?”

“Yeah.” Jake said. 

“Can we go out there and talk instead of in here?”

“I guess.” Jake said shrugging. “It’s kind of cold but the water is warm I guess.”

“Great.” Amy said. “I’m going to grab a swimsuit so I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll leave the door unlocked.” Jake said as she left his room and headed back towards her room. After quickly finding her swimsuit in her bag she changed in her bathroom before making her way to Jake’s room. The door was unlocked just like she said it would be. When she closed it behind her, she made sure to lock it.

“Jake!” 

“Out here!” Jake called back from the balcony. Amy went outside and started shivering the second her bare feet left his room. “Hurry up and get in otherwise you may end up with frostbite.”

“It’s still May right? I haven’t walked through some portal that put me in January in Alaska?”

“No.” Jake said laughing “Nothing like that. I told you Antlers is extremely cold. Kind of crazy it’s on the island and such a different temperature.”

“Kind of crazy?” Amy asked him as she emerged herself in the hot water. “Oh that’s so much better.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “I’ve got the temperature cranked all the way up.”

“I can tell.” Amy said gesturing to the steam. 

Jake reached behind his back and pulled out a beer. “You want one?”

“Sure.” Amy said taking the bottle from him.

\----

_“Jake this is a bad idea.” Amy said once they were inside Shaw’s bar. “What if someone sees you and wants to hurt you, you don’t even have a guard.”_

_“Oh come on Amy.” Jake said. “Nothing bad is going to happen.” He sat down in a booth and Amy slid into the seat across from him. “Nobody is going to be able to recognize me with this carefully crafted disguise.”_

_“Uh huh.” Amy said. “I’ll go order us beers. You stay here.”_

_“Got it.” Jake said watching Amy go to the bar and talk to the bartender before walking away with two beers. She slid one to him and he took a sip. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”_

_“It absolutely is.” Amy said. “You’re not supposed to be anywhere without a guard of some sort.”_

_“I know which is why I wanted to go just the two of us.” Jake said. “I’ve spent my entire life being followed around by someone. I never get to do things just me and a friend.”_

_“You know all of that will change in like two months when you turn eighteen?”_

_“I know, but still.” Jake said. “I’m tired of Teddy following me around everywhere he is so annoying.”_

_“Oh come on.” Amy said. “He’s not that bad. I think that he is kind of nice.”_

_“Do you like him?” Jake asked out of the blue taking another sip of his beer. “Like like him?”_

_“What?” Amy asked her voice raising an entire octave. A clear sign that she was uncomfortable and lying. “I don’t like Teddy. Don’t be ridiculous.”_

_“It was just a question.” Jake said throwing his hands in the air. “There is no reason to get so defensive.”_

_“I’m not getting defensive. I just don’t like Teddy.” She knew that he knew that she was lying._

_“It’s okay if you do.” Jake said. “I really don’t care.” Now she knew that he was lying to her. They were both sitting her lying to each other for no reason whatsoever. “I just want you to be happy.”_

_“Oh shut up Jake.” Amy said. “I stand by what I said, we should’ve told him that we were leaving and he should be here with us.”_

_“Tell you what.” Jake said. “I’ll call him down here but I’m going to tell him that you’re madly in love with him.” Jake said pulling out his phone and dialing Teddy’s number._

_“No Jake!” Amy yelled leaning across the table and trying to grab Jake’s phone. “Don’t call him. I don’t want him to come down here.”_

_“A ha!” Jake exclaimed “So you do like him?”_

_“What? Fine. Maybe a little bit, but I’m not going to do anything about it. You want another beer?” Amy asked noticing that his bottle was empty as well as hers._

_“Yeah.”_

\-----

“Do you remember that one time when Charles tried to make a turkey in of those pressurized cooker and it ended up exploding in the kitchen?” Jake asked through laughter and Amy couldn’t help but join along. 

“Yes!” Amy said. “How could I forget? That was such a mess.”

“The absolute worst.” Jake agreed.

“Oh how about that one time when Gina and Charles slept together.”

“Eww why would you bring that up Ames?” Jake yelled at her through his laughter. “I had almost forgotten.”

“Bullshit.” Amy said. “I think about that night we found them every single night when I close my eyes.” 

“You should see a therapist then.” Jake said. 

After a moment the laughter had died down and they each knew that they needed to have the conversation they were so desperately avoiding. “So earlier.” Amy said noticing the ay Jake swallowed and his eyes got darker. Instinctively she bit on her bottom lip.

Without another word, she found herself leaning towards him and he did the same. She closed her eyes as their lips met softly. She never really thought about him having soft lips, but she knew that she was never going to be able to not think about it again.

It started off slow, almost chaste, but soon one of Jake’s hands was in her hair and the other was wrapped around her back pulling her closer to him. She ran a hand through his hair before it came to rest behind his neck keeping him close. When they parted for breath, they each rested their foreheads against each other eyes still closed tight. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Amy whispered.

“I bet my answer would beat yours.” Jake whispered.

“I should go.” Amy whispered her forehead still resting against his. She wanted nothing more than to stay here for the rest of the night maybe even the rest of the night, but if a guard caught her sneaking around the lodge, she would be in trouble.

“Yeah.” Jake agreed pulling away. She wanted to cry, wanted to reach for him back, but she didn’t. “It’s getting pretty late.” He stood up and grabbed a towel and handed her his. “We good?” He asked and the vulnerability in his voice made her heart break. 

“We’re more than good.” She told him drying off and heading back into his room. “Damn it.” She said.

“What?” Jake asked.

“I left my clothes in my room. Now I have to walk all the way across the lodge in just this.”

Jake went into his closet rummaging around until he found a sweatshirt. “Here you can have this.” He said throwing her over the navy blue sweatshirt.

“The New York Mets?” She asked. “You watch baseball?”

“When I’m able to.” Jake said. “But you can have that. If you wanted something to get you to your room or whatever.”

Amy pulled it over herself immediately feeling a thousand times warmer. “Thanks. I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about.” Jake said Amy nodded and smiled before making her way out of his room.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said. “Have a goodnight.”


	11. Isn't It Lovely

_"Two more beers.” Jake said setting down two bottles in front of her. She picked up one a took a long sip._

_“Thanks.” She said before he picked up his._

_“No problemo.”_

_Amy just rolled her eyes. “I still think that this is a bad idea.”_

_“You say every time.” Jake said. “And nothing bad has ever happened.”_

_“Yeah yeah.” She said taking another long drink of her beer._

_“Woah Ames.” Jake said. “Slow down.”_

_“Nah.” Amy said. “It’s been kind of a pretty shitty day, want to get drunk as possible as I can.”_

_“I hear that.” Jake said taking another sip of his. It wasn’t long before Amy had downed her entire beer._

_“I’m going to go get another one you want one?” She asked him._

_“I'm good.” Jake said. “And I’m not sure that you need another one.”_

_“I’m fine.” Amy said standing up from the table. The second she stood up though the entire room began to spin. It felt like someone was slamming a hammer against her skull. She grabbed onto the table trying to support herself before she feel over. In the distance she thought that she could hear Jake calling for her but she wasn’t sure at this point. The entire room was turning into a blur. She had two beers surely she was not this drunk yet._

_“Ames. Amy Ames listen to me.” Jake said. She blinked several times and realized that she was laying on the floor, he was crouched down next to her. “We need to get out of here.” He said and if she could think straight, the urgency in his voice would’ve scared her._

_She felt somebody picking her up and in the back of her mind she felt grateful that Teddy had come down to save them. There was a vile taste in the back of her throat and she lurched thrown up. She heard Teddy make a moan in disgust and when her head fell back she thought she saw a spot of red on his white shoes. She tried to say that she was okay but the words came out as a slur unrecognizable in the human language._

_“Ames you’re gonna be okay.” She heard the man carrying her call out. Ames? That was what Jake called her not Teddy. She looked up at him and sure enough it was Jake carrying her right now straight towards the castle gates._

_\-----_

_Amy shot up out of her bed drenched in sweat the sheets around her pushed to the edge of her bed. That wasn’t what happened. Jake didn’t carry her out of the bar that night, Teddy did. Her mind was moving a thousand miles an hour. She didn’t remember anything from that night after she tried to get up for another beer._

_When she woke up she had been told that someone poisoned the beer intended for Jake. By luck of the draw she drank it instead. They said that she saved Jake’s life. But she never remembered how she got back to the castle, just knew that she had._

_The sweat on her skin finally drying, she found that she was actually freezing cold. She reached across the bed to where Jake’s sweatshirt had been abandoned. She pulled it over herself and felt a thousand times better. It was like he was there with her right now holding her tight and saying that everything was going to be okay. She then pulled the sheets back up around her, laid her head back upon the pillow and prayed that she wouldn’t have another nightmare like that._

_\------_

_Jake put three pancakes on his plate which he then drenched in maple syrup. “Do you think that I have to talk to him?” Jake whispered to Gina nodding his head back towards where Teddy was currently talking to both of his parents._

_“Yeah I kinda don’t think that you’re going to have a choice.” Gina said back. “Can you move I want some bacon.” Jake then reached across the table and grabbed all five pieces of bacon before Gina could. “Really?” She asked clearly annoyed. “Are you ten years old?”_

_“Go ask Charles to make you some more at least it will be fresh.”_

_“You go ask him.” Gina said grabbing the bacon off his plate and heading towards the table. Jake huffed and headed into the kitchen. He set his pate down on the counter and grabbed a fork before biting into his pancake._

_“Charles.” Jake said getting Charles’s attention. “Will you make some more bacon or give me some going out to to the girls.”_

_“Sure thing.” charles said immediately going to the fridge to grab some bacon and eggs. “So how was your night?”_

_“Pretty great actually. I think that Amy is here for me. Either that or she’s playing one cruel game.”_

_“Why’s that?” Charles asked setting down the bacon and opening the carton of eggs._

_“Don’t freak out when I tell you this.” Jake said as a warning knowing full well that it wasn’t going matter. Charles had been rooting for them to be together ever since they were nine years old. “But we kissed last night.”_

_“What?!” Charles exclaimed dropping the egg that he was holding onto the ground. “You kissed her!” He yelled again in excitement. “Way to go Jakey!”_

_“Okay Charles.”_

_“Was their tongue.”_

_“I’m not going to answer that.”_

_“So yes.” Charles said. Jake’s silence told him that he was right. “So are we going to cut this whole selection thing short since you already know that you want to marry her.”_

_“You know that they will never do that.” Jake said. “But I don’t want to marry her yet either. I mean I kind of want to marry her eventually but it just seems kind of soon.”_

_“You know that you’re going to have to marry who ever you pick rather soon afterwards right?” Charles asked as he began to clean up the egg mess on the floor._

_“I know. I just don’t really want to think about it right now.”_

_“Fair.”_

_“Jake.” Gina said lightly tapping on the kitchen door. “Mom and dad want you to come out.”_

_Jake sighed. “I gotta go.” He said to Charles before heading out of the kitchen to where his parents were seated with Teddy. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He could have a civil conversation with Teddy._

_“Your highness.” Teddy said as Jake sat down at the table._

_“Teddy.” Jake said. “What are you doing here? I thought that you weren’t allowed back on the grounds after you know I got stabbed.”_

_“Yeah about that.” Teddy said. “I don’t think that I ever really got the chance to say sorry for that. I really messed up that night but it will never happen again.”_

_“Yeah it won’t because you’re not my guard.”_

_“Well Jacob.” Roger started. “You are not aware of this yet but you current guard, Carter submitted his resignation last week.”_

_“What?” Jake asked. He liked Carter. Carter pretty much just let him do whatever he wanted. “Why?”_

_“We don’t know.” Karen replied. “But we were going through applicants for a new guard and they would all need training and that would take time. We need someone now. And Teddy is already trained and experienced. He makes the most sense.”_

_“No.” Jake said standing up from the table._

_“Jacob sit back down.” Roger said sternly_

_“He was horrible at his job. Do you know how much shit I got away with because he wasn’t paying attention or was too busy flirting with Amy?”_

_“Jacob.” His mother said calmly. “This is the only option for right now. It’s not permanent. Right now this is just the way it has to be.”_

_Jake only shook his head before storming out of the room. He wasn’t sure where he was heading but he knew that Teddy was following him. “Why are you really here?” He asked suddenly turning around to face this man._

_“I messed up when I let Amy go. This job was the best thing that ever happened to. Second best at least. She was the best thing that ever happened to me.”_

_“Well you can’t have her back.” Jake siad. “She’s moved on. I don’t know if you are aware of this, she is kind of competing in the selection.”_

_“Yeah but I don’t think that she will win and when she loses and her heart is broken by you I will be there to pick up the pieces.”_

_“Do you really think that I would ever break her heart?” Jake asked._

_“Look if it wasn’t for me she wouldn’t even be here, so I kind of think that you should just give her back.”_

_“If it wasn’t for _you_?” Jake asked him. The anger in his veins was hitting a dangerous level. “If it wasn’t for me you never would’ve been married to her. If it wasn’t for me she would’ve died there on that dirty bar floor. Don’t you dare act like it was you who saved her life. You’re not the hero in the story. You’re the villain.”_

_\-----_

__“Ames.” Jake said holding onto her as tight as he could. She was shaking like a leaf in his embrace her eyes slowly starting to flutter closed. “You gotta keep your eyes open I need you to stay with me.” He walked as fast as he could. Occasionally she would lurch forward and throw up blood but he was trying to not think about what that might mean._ _

__The only thing that he knew for sure was that he needed to get her back to the castle. Quick. He walked as fast as he could. He had never been more relieved to see the gates. “Open the gate!” He called and when the guard saw that he was carrying what looked like a dead girl he quickly opened the gates._ _

__The guard tried to take her from his arms but Jake refused to let go. Luckily the infirmary was not too far from the gate. As soon as he was inside the building he laid her down in the bed and doctors were all over her taking vitals and saying words he didn’t understand._ _

__Jake sat down in the chair right next and took her hand. Her eyes were still fluttering open and closed and he could tell that she was fighting to breathe. “She’s coding.” He heard one doctor yell before the other grabbed the paddle things that would shock her heart back into rhythm. Jake didn’t know what they were called._ _

__“We need you to drop her hand.” Jake didn’t move the words didn’t register in his head. “Your highness” another said. Finally someone yelled at him “Jake drop her hand.” Before yanking his hand away from her._ _

__“Clear.” One doctor yelled and Jake watched her entire body lift off the table from the shock. “Clear.” He yelled again. “We’re losing her. Clear.” It took a couple more tries before the doctors breathed a breath of relief. “I think that we need to pump her stomach.” Jake heard one say. He reached for her hand again before a doctor stopped him. “You shouldn’t be here for this.”_ _

__“I’m not leaving.” Jake said stubbornly. “I can’t- I can’t- “ He tried to breath but it was getting harder and harder. He felt a doctor take his hand and lead him outside. It was a hot june day but yet outside it felt like a cold december morning._ _

__“What were you thinking?” He could hear his father yell. He didn’t catch anything of what he was saying other than the words death and could’ve been you. “You’re going to your room and not coming out until I say. Teddy?”_ _

__He tried to protest but found that he was still being led away by Teddy. “You can’t do this!” He yelled at the walls when he was locked in his room. “I need to be there when she wakes up. I need to be there when she wakes up.” He repeated the second time far more weak than the first. His back hit the door and he sunk down to his knees. “I need to be there when she wakes up.” he said softly tears streaking down his face._ _

__\-----_ _

__Amy woke up two days later. She blinked several times trying to adjust to the bright light and remember where she was. She moved her head slightly and saw Teddy sitting in a chair next to her. “What happened?” She asked blinking slowly. “Where am i?”_ _

__“You and the prince went out drinking.” Teddy said. “Do you remember any of that.”_ _

__“Vaguely.” Amy said. “I remember being nervous that something bad was going to happen.”_ _

__“You don’t remember what happened?” Teddy asked and Amy shook her head._ _

__“Is Jake okay?”_ _

__“Yeah the prince is fine.” Teddy said. “You two went out drinking without telling me where you were going.” Amy nodded. “Luckily I followed you two because you’re not as secretive as you think you are. You drank a beer that was intended for Jake. It had been poisoned. So you collapsed and started having seizures. I carried you all the way back to the castle where I brought you here. You coded several times they had to restart your heart at least twice. And then they pumped your stomach.”_ _

__“How long was I out?”_ _

__“Two days.” Teddy replied._ _

__“Where was Jake during all this?”_ _

__“He was trailing behind us saying that his parents were going to kill him.”_ _

__“Oh.” Amy said her face falling slightly._ _

__“Yeah.” Teddy said. “The doctors said that if it wasn’t for me that you wouldn't be alive.”_ _

__“You saved me.” Amy whispered. “Thank you.”_ _

__\------_ _

__“She married you because she thought that you saved her life.” Jake yelled at Teddy._ _

__“Oh please.” Teddy said. “That’s not the reason she married me, that was just the tipping scale that finally got her to date me. Did you really think that she was going to chose you?” he asked. “I mean I heard about your little romantic speech where you told my girlfriend that you loved her. And I’m pretty sure that I was still the one who married her five months after that.”_ _

__“Yeah well you’re also the one she divorced four years after that.” Jake said. “I’m not having this conversation with you. You’re a dick and she will never go back to you.”_ _

__“I wouldn't be so sure about that.” Teddy said before Jake slammed his door shut in Teddy’s face._ _

__\----_ _

__Later that night Jake was deep into his Big Little Lies binge session when there was a knock at his door. He got up out his bed and prayed that it wasn’t Teddy. He was still fuming about the entire conversation they had earlier._ _

__He opened the door and was met with a hysterical Elizabeth. “I am so sorry.” She cried. “You are such a nice guy and you don’t deserve this. I really hate to be the one to have to tell you this but somebody needs to. I would hate for you to chose her and spend the rest of your life with her. Or worse yet she leaves you at the altar.”_ _

__“Elizabeth.” Jake said cutting off the crying girl. “What are you talking about?”_ _

__“It’s Amy.” She said and Jake felt like the world was collapsing around him already and he didn’t even know what Elizabeth had to say. “I was going for a walk and saw the two of them…” She trailed off for a second pulling out her phone and showing Jake a picture of Amy kissing Teddy in her room._ _

__“When was this taken?” Jake asked._ _

__“Like twenty minutes ago at most. I came here as soon as I saw it.” Elizabeth said wiping tears out of her eyes. “I can’t believe that she would do something like this to you.”_ _

__Jake felt a lump forming in his throat as he realized that Teddy would've been off duty. What if Teddy was right? What if Amy really was still in love with him and whatever he thought the two of them had was all just a joke to her. With that thought the world seemed to stop spinning and his heart stopped beating._ _


	12. These Thoughts Are Violent

Amy walked down the aisle of the stable looking at all the horses that she was allowed to choose from. She didn’t know which one to chose. It didn’t really matter as they were all trained well but she was still being picky.

“You can take mine if you want.” Gina said walking up behind Amy. “I’m not going so you can take Sargent Peanut Butter if you want.”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked looking towards the black horse in the stable next to her.

“I wouldn't have offered if I wasn’t sure. Now hurry up or you’re going to be the last one in line.”

“Thank you.” Amy said quickly getting on the horse. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.” Gina said as Amy rode out of the stable to meet the other girls. Jake was at the front of the line with the King and Queen and sure enough Elizabeth was as close as they would let her get. Sophia however was right there with her.

“What’s Sophia doing so close to the front?” Amy asked Kylie while the tour guide continued her ramble.

“I don’t know. She’s probably trying to score some alone time with the prince. I hear that outside she is who everyone else thinks is going to win.”

“Really?” Amy asked. It didn’t surprise her that people thought that, but those people didn’t know that two nights ago she had kissed the prince. It was amazing and she hasn’t been able to keep her mind off of it since. 

The people in front of them began to move so Amy and Kylie followed suit. “You know that there are only two weeks left until we know who the prince is going to chose? Isn’t that crazy I feel like we just got here.”

Amy tried to do mental math in her head. There was no way that she has already been here for ten weeks. That’s seventy days. “Are you serious?” she asked. “That’s insane. How is that even possible?”

Kylie only shrugged her shoulders. Amy kept her eyes trained ahead on Jake. He turned around on his horse to say something to Sophia who quickly rode up next to him. They were talking about something and Amy would’ve given anything to know what.

“What do you think that Jake and Sophia are saying up there?” Amy asked Kylie trying to make it sound like she she didn’t think that it was any big deal.

“Who knows.” Kylie said. “Wouldn’t we all like to know. I heard that Elizabeth kissed him last night.”

“What?” Amy asked.

“She’s telling people that last night he invited her to his room and he kissed her. She’s saying that they had sex but I highly doubt that. Now if Sophia said that I would believe her not a doubt.”

“Do you think that they kissed though?” Amy asked. 

“Probably not.” Kylie said. “I mean Elizabeth isn’t exactly the most trustworthy person but it could’ve happened I guess. I know that he kissed someone.” She said. “The cook um Charles I think is his name, we all overhead him tell Princess Gina that Jake kissed her last night. But we have no idea who the her is. Elizabeth is claiming it’s her but I’m guessing that it’s Sophia.”

Amy smiled to herself. He told Charles that they kissed. God she wished that she had been there for that. Charles probably absolutely lost his shit. She laughed slightly to herself just thinking about his reaction. “I mean look at the two of them up there.” Kylie said pointing to Jake and Sophia who were riding next to each other clearly lost in thought.

“Abby right?” Elizabeth asking falling in line next to Amy.

Amy took a deep breath praying to God that this conversation wasn’t going to be as ugly as the one’s she had in the past. “You know that my name is Amy.” She said.

“Oh right.” Elizabeth said. “You see what’s happening right?” Amy was quiet waiting for Elizabeth to continue. “Sophia is about to swoop in and steal our man.”

“I thought that he was only your man.”

“Oh he is. You’re playing for seconds. But I still assume that you want second not third.”

“What do you want Elizabeth?” Amy asked

“I want to take Sophia down.”

“I heard that you kissed the prince.” Amy said.

“I did. I also slept with him.” She said with a cocky smirk. Amy smiled back knowing for a fact that none of that happened. 

“So you were the her that Charles was talking about. I wondered.”

“Yep I was the her. And let me tell you he’s fantastic. Best I’ve ever had.”

“Have you told him that?” Amy asked. “I’m sure that he would love to hear that. Why don’t we tell him right now.”

“Oh no we don’t have to.”

“Jake!” Amy shouted up towards the front of the line only growing slightly red when she realized that she didn’t address him properly. Eh she didn’t really care enough anymore. Jake turned around at his name being yelled. Even from how far back they were Amy could tell that there was a guarded look in his eyes. “Elizabeth says that you’re the best she’s ever had.”

There were giggles from all the other girls as Jake furrowed his eyebrows together. He then turned around and began talking to Sophia again as if none of that had just happened.

“What are you doing?” Kylie whispered. “Do you know how inappropriate that is?” 

“Oh lighten up.” Amy said. “I’m having fun.” She said even though in the back of her mind she was very aware of how inappropriate that was. It was still worth it when she turned her attention and saw Elizabeth allred in the face. 

“Are you going to help me take down Sophia or not?” She asked impatiently.

“No.” Amy said. “Because A. unlike you I am not playing dirty and B. I do not see Sophia as a threat as you clearly do.” The last part was only a slight lie.

“You’re an idiot and you definitely just got third place. But that’s on you.” Elizabeth said before riding up to the front and trying to but her way into their conversation again.

\------

“What are you even doing here Teddy?” Amy asked sitting down across from Teddy at a picnic table at the top of the mountain. The ride here was gorgeous even Amy couldn’t deny that. Although it would've been slightly more gorgeous if she had done it next to Jake.

“I want you back.” Teddy aid. “I messed up big time. I didn’t realize what I had or how much you mean to me until I lost you.”

“Are you serious right now?” Amy asked. “You do realize that I am literally here competing to marry Jake wright?” 

“I know. But I also know that he’s not going to chose you.”

“And how would you know that?” Amy asked.

“Because let’s be honest Amy. You are way out of your element up here. You don’t belong with these girls. You belong down in Waterdale with me. He’s going to pick a girl that belongs up here. One that can be Queen. You can’t.”

“You think that telling me that Jake won’t chose me because I am not worthy enough is going to convince me to come back to you? Real interesting tactic there Teddy.” Amy said. “You should just go home.”

“I work here again. This is my home.”

“You work here again?” Amy asked in shock. “They rehired you?”

“Yeah. I’m Jake’s guard again. So I’m not leaving. I want you back and I always get my way.”

“God you are such a dick. I can’t believe that i fell for this whole little act when I was eighteen.” Amy said standing up from the picnic table and walking towards where Jake was standing. He was standing closer to edge of the mountain looking down at the valley. “Careful or you might end up falling off.” He turned around to look at her but he didn’t say anything.

She stood next to him rocking back and forth. Silence with Jake was the worst. There was no feeling in the world that compared to how awful it felt. She wanted to reach out to him but knew that she shouldn't. “What’s wrong Pineapples?” She asked.

“If you don’t want to be here that’s fine.” Jake said. “I really don’t give a fuck.” He continued and she glanced behind the two of them wondering if there was anyone around that might’ve heard that. “But if you don’t want to be here then act like it.”

“What do you mean?” Amy asked slowly.

“If you don’t want to be here then don’t act like you do. If you don’t want to be here then stop always trying to talk to me. Stop befriending these girls and acting like they are your competition. Stop flirting with me and coming to my room when you know you shouldn’t. Don’t kiss me and then act like it’s not big deal. If you don’t want to be here then stop making me fall in love with you again it’s not fair.”

“Jake no offense but what on Earth are you talking about?” Amy asked she reached out to put her hand on his arm but her jerked away before she could.

“Mind if I cut in?” Sophia asked walking over to the pair very reminiscent of the way Amy had done earlier to her. 

“No not at all.” Jake said to Sophia. “Amy was just leaving.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Amy said awkwardly walking away from the edge of the mountain and back towards Gina’s horse. She spared once glance back at the two of them and saw Jake hunched over in laughter. 

\-----

Amy laid awake that night tossing and turning in her bed. Jake’s words kept playing over and over again in her mind. Why did he think that she didn’t want to be here. She literally kissed him two nights ago and hasn’t stopped thinking about it since. His lips were ridiculous soft and she wanted to know if he used chapstick or something and if so what kind so that she two could use it. 

He was falling in love with her. That part rang clear as a bell in her brain. He was falling in love with her. She could win this stupid thing. She could be his wife. He could be her husband so easily. Yet for some reason he thought that she didn’t want to be here.

That was ridiculous. Sure she didn’t want to be here at the beginning but then he slowly began to change her mind. She never would’ve thought that she would want to be Jake Peralta’s wife but yet here she was. The idea of him choosing someone else was making her absolutely insane.

Sophia was a nice girl but Amy really didn’t want to watch her walk down the aisle in a gorgeous white dress. She didn’t want to hear Jake say that I do to someone else. She would have to go to his wedding as she was part of the court. 

Then after a couple of years everywhere newspaper and magazine on the island would be exclaiming that she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. Amy would have to look at picture after picture of her growing baby bump and a smiling Jake as she tried to get her groceries.

Nine months later and there would be a little baby. A boy that would look exactly like Jake. Curly hair and dark brown eyes. Or a girl that looked like Sophia. It hurt her heart thinking about him having someone else’s children. And oh God she wanted his babies. She wanted his everything. She had to win this stupid competition or she would never be able to live with herself.

He was falling in love with her _again_. If he knew that she was also falling in love with him than maybe in two weeks he would choose her and not Sophia. So Amy got out of bed and threw on the first thing that she found before making her way down the hallways.

She prayed that she wasn’t going to get caught by a guard and sent back to her room. She needed to tell him that she was falling in love with him too before it was too late. He needed to know that she was here for him.

She made her way to his door and was about to knock when she heard commotion from inside. Against her better judgement she leaned her ear against the door and listening to the two voices from inside. “Go fish.” she heard Jake say and Sophia laughed.

“What?” she asked. “There is no way that you don’t have the king of hearts. You’re lying.”

“Oh you’re calling me a liar now?” Jake asked “Wow real low. Even for you Soph.” She leaned away from his door at the nickname that he just called her. She wasn't sure what to do. She couldn’t knock on his door and tell him that she loved him when Sophia was sitting right there, but she also couldn’t go back to her room because there was no way that she was going to fall asleep.

She ran her hand through her hair before heading back to her room. She laid on top of the comforter not bothering to put back on her pajamas or to pull back the sheets. Instead she laid there staring at the little speckles in the ceiling until her alarm went off the next morning.


	13. She Could Really Rip Your World Apart

“I’m getting worried.” Terry said sitting on the edge of Amy’s bed as Sharon did her minimal makeup for the day.

“Why?”

“Because I can tell that something happened between you and the prince.”

“We kissed.” Amy said refusing to make eye contact with him or Sharon. 

“That’s great!” Sharon exclaimed. “That must mean that he likes you.” 

“But then two days later he goes on this whole tirad about it not being fair that I’m making him fall in love with me and how if I don’t want to be here I need to stop acting like I do.”

“That’s not good.” Sharon said.

“No.” Terry agreed. “Do you want to be here Amy?” 

“I didn’t when it started but now yes I do want to be here. And I want him to chose me so badly.”

“So tell him that.” Terry said. “I don’t care what you need to do to make things right but you need to do them.”

“Yeah that’s easier said than done” Amy said 

“He obviously cares about. After your speech about how bad the poverty is in Waterdale, he set up an entire food drive in the community. Fed over ten thousand people.” Amy looked up meeting Terry’s eyes in the mirror.

“Are you serious?” 

Both Sharon and Terry noded. “Whatever happened that made him believe that you don’t want to be here, you need to right it and soon because there is only one week until he is going to pick the next Queen.”

“Okay.” She said. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Good.” Terry said as Sharon finished her makeup. 

“Good luck.” Sharon said as Amy headed out the door.

“Thanks.” Amy said making her way down the hall and knocking on his door. Luckily the guard standing there wasn’t Teddy. It took a moment before the door was swung open. Jake’s hair was a mess and he was only wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed and this was definitely a sight that she could get used to waking up next to everyday.

“Oh God.” Jake said. “It’s too early for this.”

“Can we talk?” She asked and Jake only moved out of the doorframe. Once she was in his room he closed the door behind her. “All that stuff that you said yesterday-”

“I mean everything single word of it.” Jake said cutting her off.

“Okay.” Amy said “cool cool cool cool cool.” She rambled the way he used to when they were younger. “But like why?”

“What do you mean why Amy?” Jake asked rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “It’s way too early for this. You’re a smart girl I’m sure that you can figure out why.”

“I have been wracking my brain ever since that conversation Jake. Believe me. I can’t think of a single thing that I did wrong. Please just tell me. I want to be here. I really do. I am all in this.” 

“I saw you kissing Teddy.” He said throwing his arms in the air. “I saw you kissing him.”

Amy was quiet for a minute before realizing what he was talking about. “You saw that?”

“Yeah I saw that.” Jake said angrily. “If you want to leave you can. Go runaway again with him. We’ll all be okay. You don’t even have to say goodbye I know how hard that is for you.”

“Jake.” Amy said. “I wasn’t kissing him.” 

“What do you mean you weren’t kissing him? I saw you kiss him Amy don’t sit here and lie to me.”

“He came onto me. I was telling him to leave and go back home but he came onto me. He kissed me.”

“Well it sure looked like you were kissing him back.”

“Maybe for a split second before my brain caught up to me. I didn’t want to kiss him though. I pushed him off. That didn’t mean anything to me. I am here for you.” 

“I don’t believe you.”

\----

_“This isn’t easy to say.” Amy said trying to find the right words to use. How was she supposed to put this delicately._

_“Just say whatever it is that you need to say.” Jake said impatiently._

_“I think that your dad is having an affair.” She blurted out. Jake sat there in silence staring straight ahead at her._

_“No.” He said after a moment. “There is no way.”_

_“I overheard him talking to a girl on the phone. He called her baby and told her that he couldn't wait to see her next weekend. You said that he was leaving the island next weekend correct.”_

_Jake was quiet as he began to put two and two together. “No.” he said again. “There is no way that my dad is cheating on my mom. He wouldn’t do that.”_

_“Jake.” Amy said. “You said that your parents are constantly yelling at each other and that your mom is always sad. Don’t you think that there is maybe some correlation?”_

_“Yeah but that doesn't mean that he is cheating on her.” Jake said. “I mean that would be very un king like. He wouldn't do that.”_

_“I knew that it was a bad idea to tell you.”_

_“What?” Jake asked standing up from the couch._

_“I knew that you wouldn’t believe me.” She said. “You act like your father is some God or something. But he’s not. He’s actually pretty shitty.”_

_“He is not!” Jake exclaimed. “And he is not cheating on my mother.”_

_“I want to be a detective when I grow up and I am telling you that he is.”_

_“Well in a different world I was a detective and i’m telling you that he’s not.” Jake yelled at Amy. “I’m going to my room and you’re not invited.” he said storming off up the stairs to his room. Amy stayed in the main hall until she heard the door slam. She only slightly jumped this time._

\-----

“You don’t believe me?” Amy asked him with a certain amount of bitterness to her tone. “Are you joking right now?

“I don’t believe you.” Jake repeated.

“Jake!” Amy yelled at him “how many different ways do I have to tell you that I am here for you? I kissed _you._ ”

“Yeah well you also kissed Teddy so that really doesn't mean anything to me right now.”

“I heard that you set up a food drive in Waterdale.” Amy said and Jake scrunched his face up in confusion from the sudden change in topic. 

“What about it?” 

“I thought that was really sweet.” Amy said. “That’s who you are Jake. You’re a kind, sweet, funny guy. I am here for that guy. Not the dick who let you get stabbed because he was too busy flirting with me. You setting up that food drive is a prime example of the reasons that I’m slowly falling in love with you.” 

Jake was silent for a minute. “I’m going to go get some fresh air.” He said heading towards his bedroom door grabbing his coat. “Please don’t follow.” He said before leaving the room. She followed him out of his room but turned the opposite way that he did. She tried to keep the tears in bay. She was strong she did not need to cry over this.

Jake made his way down the hallway trying to not look back. He told Amy not to follow him but for some reason that was all he wanted right now. His emotions were so messed up at the current moment. It felt like a tornado had ripped through his mind and left a a destruction in every corner. 

He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he continued walking hoping that he wasn’t going to run into anyone looking like this. He was a pretty confident guy but he really didn’t want anyone to see him like this. He looked about as much as a wreck as he felt. 

He pauses his dad’s office and hears him on the phone with someone. Probably some mistress. Still he stops and puts his ear against the door to listen. “Your plan worked like a charm Madeline.” There was silence for a minute. “Yes Teddy showed up. Everything is working just the way we planned it would. Now we only have to get Sophia out of the equation and then Elizabeth is the clear choice.” 

Somehow Jake finds himself at Amy’s door before him mind can catch up. He’s banging on her door over and over again until she finally opens it to him “I’m sorry.” Jake said. 

“What?” Amy asks.

“I’m sorry. I was being a major jerk earlier when I yelled at you.” She squinted her eyes at him. “Can I come in?” he asked her.

“Yeah.” She said moving out of the way.

“I heard my dad talking to someone named Madeline-”

“Wait.” Amy said. “Madeline is Elizabeth’s mother.” 

“That makes sense.” Jake said. “They sent Teddy here. They are trying to get you out of the competition. Me being mad at you was part of their plan. Now they are trying to find a way to sabotage Sophia.”

“But why?”

“I have no idea.”

“How do we get rid of Teddy?” Amy asked him.

“I have a plan for that.” Jake said. “But it may not be the most ethical.”

“Oh God.”

\----

“Mom.” Jake said knocking on the library door.

“Yes.” she called out and both Amy and Jake walked into the library. “I think that Teddy needs to be fired.”

“I’ve already told you that he is the only option right now.”

“Yeah but he’s being inappropriate with some of the girls.” Jake said

“What do you mean?” Karen asked her son eyeing between him and Amy.

“Teddy forced himself on me.” Amy said. “He tried to kiss me when I told him not he kept going. It was really freighting and I’m just concerned that he may try and do it to other girls. And what if it goes even further.”

“Sophia told me last night that he was making lewd comments about her body.” Jake lied.

“He’s got a thing for latinas.” Amy added.

“Oh gosh.” Karen said dropping her book. “Well yes I need to take care of this immediately.” she finished before leaving the room. Jake turned to Amy and put his hand up for a high five which she returned. 

\-----

“Oh gosh.” Kylie whispered. 

“This is bad.” Sophia whispered back. Amy scoped some more mac and cheese on her plate. She smiled at the guy serving it but he didn’t smile back.

“Do you think that she’s seen it?” Madison whispered. Amy sat her plate down on the table and took her silverware out of her napkin carefully laying the napkin across her lap. She took a bit of the mac and cheese that Charles definitely made. Only Charles could make it that good.

“Amy.” Kylie whispered.

“What’s up.”

“Have you been on your phone recently?”

“No.” Amy said. “What happened.” There was an awkward silence and Amy pulled out her phone her heart stopping at the headline. _Amy Santiago caught kissing ex-husband. Prince Jacob betrayed._

“I have to uh.” She said not bothering to finish her sentence. She practically ran out of the hall down to the bathroom. Locking herself in a stall she pulled up the article and cried when she saw the picture of Teddy kissing her. 

A notification popped up on her screen of a text message from Jake reading “Teddy’s gone :)”

She swiped down and replied. “That’s not our biggest problem anymore.”


	14. I Won't Look Back There Will Be No Regrets

Amy taped the microphone several times in order to get all the reporters in the room to be quiet. “I know that everyone has already seen the pictures of Teddy kissing me.” She stared. “And most people have probably already formed their own opinions but I would like to get my side of the story out.”

The only sound in the room was that of the camera flashing. Reporters held their breath as they waited for her to continue talking. “That photo was taken in an effort to sabotage me.” There were several gasps from the back of the room. “I did not kiss Teddy. I mean technically I did but that was because he came onto me. I never wanted to kiss him that day.”

“I will admit that those pictures are bad.” She said. “But that should be a reflection on Teddy’s character not mine. I hope that this does not the taint the public’s opinion of me as I would like to be their queen someday.” Amy finished. “I will now open it up to questions.” That was the last thing that Amy wanted to do but Terry said that it would be good.

“How did the prince react when he saw the pictures?” One reporter asked.

“He was mad understandably but when I got a chance to explain the picture to him he was furious with Teddy. It’s actually part of the reason that Teddy got fired again.”

“Do you think that having this scandal less than forty eight hours from the prince choosing is going to hurt your chances?” Another reporter asked.

“No.” Amy said. “Like I said before once the prince found out the truth his anger quickly shifted to Teddy. Although is important what the public thinks it is ultimately Jake’s choice. There isn't going to be a ballet where everyone on the island gets to vote.”

“What did the king and queen think about the pictures?”

“Well the prince told the queen the truth about what happened and she is the one that fired Teddy. I am not sure what the King currently thinks about it but I hope that he would be understanding.”

“Are you aware that if you are chosen two days from now you will be the first princess to ever have been married before?”

“Yes.” Amy said. “I am aware of that. I am also aware of the fact that I will be the first princess from Waterdale. I hear that people down there are very excited about possibly being represented in the monarchy.”

“What did you think when you found out that the prince set up the food drive in Waterdale?”

“I thought that was really sweet. I think that shows why it would be good for someone from Waterdale to be in a position like Queen. I just thought that was really kind of the prince and really shows who he is.”

There were a couple of nods from the room as reporters jotted things down on their notepads. “Who do you think that your biggest competition is?”

“I think that all these girls are more that suited to be Queen. Any one of them would be an excellent choice.”

“That’s great but who do you think that your biggest competition is?”

“Probably Sophia.” Amy said. “But if Jake couldn’t go wrong choosing her.” She said even though she wasn’t sure that she meant it. “That’s all I’m going to do for questions. Thank you for your time.” She said walking off the stage to where Terry was motioning her. 

“I think that went really well.” Terry said as they made their way down the halls. “And like you said, it really doesn't matter what the media thinks, they are not the ones voting.”

“Yes.” Amy agreed. “Are we just killing time today?”

“Yep.” Terry said. “You are free to do whatever you want and then tomorrow there is a big ball and then the night after that this entire thing will be over when the Prince makes his choice.”

\-----

“Can we talk?” Amy asked when he opened up his door. “I feel like these next couple days are going to be kind of crazy and we just need to talk.”

“Of course.” Jake said. She walked into his room and sat down on the edge of his bed while he sat down in his desk chair. “What’s up?”

“I want you to chose me.” Amy said swallowing her pride. 

Jake’s face changed a thousand expressions in a minute. “You do?” He asked swallowing thickly.

“Yes.” Amy said. “I want you to pick me. If you don’t, that’s... that’s fine. We can still be friends but I want you to know that I am here for you and I want you to pick me. You’re not my second choice, you know that right?”

“What do you mean? Second choice?” 

“Elizabeth told me that you thought that you were my second choice that I chose Teddy over you.”

“Oh.” Jake said his face falling.

“You’re not my second choice. You’ve never been my second choice. Teddy was the second choice because I was too afraid to find out what we had. But it’s always been you. It’s always been you Jake.” She repeated for emphasis.

“Thank you for being honest.” Jake said.

“That’s it?” 

“Well I’m not allowed to tell you who i’m going to pick.” Jake said.

“Do you already know?”

“I have a pretty good idea.” He said. “But you know if I pick you then you’ll have to live like this all the time. Big dresses fancy hairstyle heels that look impossible to walk in.”

“I don’t care.” Amy said. “I really don’t care anymore as long as you are right there beside me. That’s all that really matters to me. I’ll admit it, I don’t want the crown, but I want you, and if having you means having the crown then you should see me in a crown.”

That seemed to hit something in Jake as he was immediately in her space kissing her like that night before. She didn’t hesitate to kiss him back. Instead she dove right into it just like she had been imagining ever since. He slowly pushed her down against the bed, his lips never leaving her.

“Jake.” She whispered as he started kissing down her neck. “Jake.” she said again when he didn’t acknowledge.

“Mhm?” Jake asked not bother to stop his kisses. She ran a hand through his hair taking a deep breath.

“I think that I love you.” She said wrinkling her face up for a second. “I don’t think, I do love you.”

Jake stopped what he was doing for a second to look up at her. “You love me?”

“Yeah.” Amy said. “I know I was just as surprised as you.”

“I love you too.” He said burying his face into her neck. “I’ve loved you for a long time.” he whispered trailing kisses down to her collarbone. His hands found the hem of her shirt and he lifted her back off the mattress enough to take it off of her. “You’re so beautiful” he whispered.

She then pulled his shirt off of hm trailing her hands down his stomach and the surprisingly toned set of abs. “I’m sorry that it took me so long to realize it.” She said as he kissed down her stomach.

“You don’t have to apologize.” He whispered in her ear his breath hot against her skin sending goosebumps down her spine. “You’re here now that’s all that counts.”


	15. It's A Dream You'll Forget

Amy closed her eyes tight and tried to not think of the two drastically different outcomes of tomorrow. Each one would send her life an entirely different direction and the only person who could decide was Jake Peralta. 

\----

Amy plugged in her earbuds and shuffled her playlist before she started running in the crisp October air. It was a mile to the local coffee shop. Almost every morning when the weather was nice she would run there, get a coffee and then run back. It was definitely something that she found herself looking forward to. 

Some mornings it was hard to get out bed, especially when her husband looked so damn adorable. His face buried into his pillow, hair a curly mess, his mouth hanging slightly agape. He looked so young, so peaceful. But still she got up and laced up her running shoes.

“Good morning your highness.” Someone said as Amy ran past her.

“Morning.” She said “but please call me Amy.” She shouted over her shoulder not slowing down. If she kept up this pace she was going to hit a personal best. 

The coffee shop was busier than usual and when Amy walked in all eyes turned to look at her. “Your highness.” One said moving out of the way so she could cut in line.

“Oh no please.” Amy said. “Go ahead, you were here first.” 

The guy looked confused for a moment before responding. “Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Amy said pulling out her phone. She knew that Jake wasn’t up because he would always text her the first thing he did. Something along the line of why did you leave I wanted to have sex. Typical Jake kind of message.

The line became shorter until Amy was at the front. “Hi.” The girl behind the counter said. “The usual.”

“Yes please.” Amy said swiping her card in the reader and dropping twenty dollars in the tip jar. “Have a great day.”

“You too.” The girl shouted back as Amy made her way down the counter to where she picked up the drink.

“Black tea.” a guy shouted out several minutes later sliding a drink across the counter. 

“Thank you.” Amy said to him grabbing the drink and heading back outside. She found a little park bench not too far away and began drinking. She had to finish it before she could run back. Amy flipped her phone over in her hand checking again for a message from Jake. Nothing. She sighed putting it back in her pocket. They had a stupid ball tonight and she really didn’t want to do it. But at least he was going to be there and if he was at least in the room she felt like she could manage. There were worse things of course.

After finishing her drink and throwing the cup away she made her way back to the grounds. The guard opened the gate and gave her a smile not bothering to say anything as he knew she had her earbuds in.

“Jake.” Amy said kneeling down in front of the bed where he was still fast asleep. “Jake get up.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“I know you don’t wanna but you have to.” She said running a hand through his hair. “Come on get up.” 

“Fine.” he said not opening his eyes. "But I want a kiss first." He reached around and put his hand on top of hers. She sighed before leaning down and pressing her lips against his.

"Now get up and brush your teeth."

"Okay." Jake said swimming his feet over the side of the bed and onto the ridiculously soft rug. "How was your run?"

“Good. Beat my personal best on the way there.”

“That’s fantastic Ames.”

“Hurry up. We don't want to be late you know what Charles will think that we were doing if we are late.”

That seemed to really wake Jake up as he quickly hurried into the bathroom and turned on the sink. "Good call babe."

“Yeah.” Amy said as he emerged from the bathroom. The two of them made their way into the large closet to get dressed.

“Ready.”

“You going to brush your hair?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Jake said grabbing the comb from the side of the counter. Amy tried to keep her laughter to herself. How did he survive before her? “Alright.” He said after a moment. The two of them walked down to the breakfast hall hand in hand talking about the charity even that Jake went to last night.

Amy sat down across from Jake at the table while Charles set a ton of food down in front of them. “Does everything look good?” He asked.

“It looks wonderful Charles.” Jake said.

“Perfect.” charles said. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything else.”

“Why don’t you stay in here and eat with us Charles.” Amy asked as Jake gave her a knowing look. Charles looked hesitant for a moment before he sat down next to Jake. 

“if you insist.” He said grabbing a waffle off the plate. 

It wasn’t long before someone was coming out to get Amy so she could get ready for the ball later that afternoon. She followed them down the hall back to her room. She sat in the chair and let them put a ton of makeup on her face and way too much hairspray in her hair.

“For your dress we need to find something that hides your baby bump.” The seamstress said. “Since we haven’t told anybody yet.”

“Yes.” Amy agreed standing up and walking into the closet. Caroline slipped through dress after dress until she settled on a light purple dress. 

“This will be perfect.” She said handing Amy the dress to try on. 

“Thanks.” Amy said as Caroline closed the door giving Amy some privacy. She put her hands on her tiny baby bump and smiled slightly to herself before she put on the dress. She walked out of the closet and both the women stopped what they were doing to stare. “That’s the one.” Caroline said looking down at her watch. “But you need to go or else you are going to be late.”

“Thank you.” Amy said grabbing her little clutch and throwing her phone into it before going downstairs to meet up with Jake. When he saw her, his mouth fell slightly agape. 

“You look stunning.” He said his eyes raking up and down her body. “I mean absolutely gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” Amy said. “You’re not too bad yourself.” she said and he smirked at her slightly. “Are you ready.” 

“Of course.” Jake said reaching out for her hand. She grabbed onto it intertwining their fingers. He gave her hand an ever slight squeeze before pushing the doors open and walking into the large ballroom. 

As usual it took a matter of minutes before Jake was pulled away from her. By now she should be used to it but she still found herself angry that she wasn't able to stand next to him and hold his hand throughout the entire event. Amy socialized with the other people until it was time for dinner.

She made her way to the front of the room as did Jake. When he met at the table he gave her a slight kiss, nothing like what she knew that he was capable. He then turned his attention to the microphone in front of him addressing the whole crowd. She knew he hated it but to his credit he did a very good job in hiding it. 

When he was done he sat down next to her. “How much longer until we can tell people?” 

“About another week. Once we hit ten weeks.” she said squeezing his hand. “It’ll be here before you know it.”

“I read that we find the gender out in week twenty. That true?” 

“I think that I remember the doctor saying something like that.” Amy said. “It’s a girl.”

“It’s a boy.” Jake corrected her. 

“You wanna bet?” Amy asked him.

“Of course.” Jake said.

\------

It was the chirping of her alarm clock that awoke her. Never in her life had she been so angry at an object. What were they going to bet on? She ran a hand through her hair. Today wa the day. She was going to find out tonight if that dream was going to become her reality or just some fragment of what could’ve been.


	16. You're On The Path In My Mind

Jake bolted awake the next morning sweat dripping from his forehead. Today was the big day. He had to talk to his parents about who he was going to chose and then he had to tell practically the entire country who their next Queen was going to be. 

“Jake.” gina said knocking on his door. “If you are late to this mom and dad will kill you.”

“I know.” Jake said getting out bed. “I know.” he repeated more for himself than her. “I will be there in a minute.”

He quickly got up and got dressed before making his way down to where his parents were. “Hey.” He said to them as he walked in and sat down on the couch.

“Good morning.” his mother said. “How are you feeling today.”

“Good actually.” Jake said. 

“That’s good.” she said.

“Your mother and I do not agree on which girl you should pick tonight.” Roger said.

“Okay.” Jake said. 

“I think that you should pick Sophia.” karen said. “She’s smart, graceful, caring, kind and she’s pretty as well.”

“Yes.” roger agreed. “Those are all desirable qualities but Elizabeth also displays all those. Plus she’s very tough, I think that she would make an excellent queen.”

“Okay.” Jake said nodding several times. “But I don’t want to chose either of them”

“What do you mean?” Karen asked. 

“I don’t want to chose either of them.” Jake repeated. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with either of them. Sophia is nice but I don’t love her and can’t see being with her forever.”

“So who do you want to chose?” Roger asked.

“Amy.”

“No.” Both of his parents said at the same time. “Amy is not suited to be Queen.” Roger said. 

“She is very sweet girl but she would be way out of her element. She was the entire time she was here.” Karen added.

“Plus if she didn’t want to be here for the selection then why would she stay for the crown.” Roger continued.

“She wouldn’t.” Jake countered. “She would be staying here for me. She loves me. She’s the only one out of those girls that loves me.”

“That’s just not true.” Roger said. “I know that all of those other girls love you and would die to be chosen today.”

“Well Amy is the only one that really loves me and she’s the only one that I love.” Jake said.

“Love means nothing.” Roger yelled at his son. “It doesn't matter that you love her or that she loves you. What matters is that she can rule this island. Which Elizabeth can easily do.”

“I heard you talking to Elizabeth’s mother.” Jake said and the room feel silent. “I know that you want me to chose her because you have some sort of plan but I really don’t care because it is after all my choice.”

“Jake.” Karen said softly. “You don’t have to chose Elizabeth, but you can not chose Amy. She doesn't belong here.”

“And don’t forget that you have to have my permission.” His father added.

Jake closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. “I will choose Sophia then.” 

“Fine.” Roger said back before Jake got out of his chair leaving the room slamming the door shut behind him.

\-----

Jake closed his bedroom door behind him taking out his phone and shooting Amy a text message “Chess?”

It only took a matter of seconds for Amy to respond “sure.” And before he knew it she was sitting across from him studying the board game pieces as if it was the only thing in the world that mattered to her. After moving her queen she looked up and asked “So what’s going to happen tonight?”

“You know that I’m not allowed to tell you.” Jake said moving one of his pieces. 

“Why not?” Amy asked slightly annoyed.

“It’s against protocol.”

“I’m pretty sure that the prince sleeping with one the girls is also against rules but I don’t remember you having any problem with that.” Amy said. “I won’t tell anyone, it can be our little secret.”

Jake sighed. "You're still going to be my friend right?" He asked her. She nodded once and he wondered if it was because she didn't trust her voice not to crack. “Sophia.” he said refusing to look in her eyes. Maybe this is why she left without saying goodbye to him. 

“Oh.” Amy said. “That’s cool. She’s...She’s great. Really nice, seems smart. She’s pretty.” Amy continued rambling and Jake hated everything. “It’s your turn.” Amy said.

Jake looked at the board and all of his options on where to go. He grabbed his queen of the board and just like that something clicked in his mind. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.” Amy said swallowing hard. He thought that she might have been trying to hold back tears.

He placed the Queen down. “Checkmate.” he said. Amy looked at the board and sure enough there was no way that she could get out of this one. “It’s like you always said. A good chess player always has their next move in mind.”

\-----

“Without any further ado I would like to give the microphone to my son so he can chose the next Queen of Summerhills.” The room erupted into chaos as Roger passed the microphone over to Jake. “Sophia.” He whispered in Jake’s ear.

“Hello everyone.” Jake said the flashing lights blinding him. “I would first like to thank all the girls that came out here to compete. It has been a pleasure getting to know every single one of you. With that being said I hope that none of you regret coming out here and spending twelve weeks here.”

He searches the crowd until he locks eyes with Amy. There’s a sad look on her face and he knows exactly why. He takes a deep breath. “I could stand up here and give a big long speech but I’m sure that everybody would appreciate it if I just cut to the chase.” There was some laughter and Jake took another deep breath a million thoughts running through his head but he was only sure about one thing. Her. “I abdicate the throne.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to b99xperaltiago for pointing out the mistake in this before it was re-uploaded. The format got really weird for some reason. Hopefully it's all good now, if not please let me know in the comments so I can fix it :)


	17. Let's Live In The Moment

“Is that what you wanted?” Jake yelled at the man siting behind the desk. “You told me that my perfect wife was going to be in this selection. You told me that I was going to be happy. Well guess what? I don’t feel too happy right now.”

“Jacob.” Holt said gesturing to the chair in front of him. “Why are you upset?”

Jake sat down in the chair throwing his arms up in the air. “What do you mean why am I upset I just told you.”

“What did you not like about the experience?” Holt asked.

“Everything.” Jake said. “I hated everything about it.”

“Give me specifc examples of what dissapointed you.” Holt said. 

Jake rolled his eyes sighing. “I don’t know. I didn’t really like any of those girls. Sophia was nice I guess but I didn’t feel like she was the one. I don’t even know why you put some of those girls in there. Some of them were downright nasty and there was no way in a thousand years that I was going to pick them.”

“You’re right.” Holt said. “You knew who you were going to pick the second you saw her walk through the door.”

“What?” Jake asked. “No. I abdicated the throne because you made this way too complicated.”

“Did I?” Holt asked. Jake bit on his lip before speaking. Holt was clearly circling around something, he just wasn’t sure what.

“You said that you knew the outcome of this selection. You told me that you knew which girl that i was going to pick. But I didn’t pick any of them. So you were wrong. You said that you’ve never been wrong before. So tell me what to do.”

“I told you that I knew what the outcome was going to be.”

“You told me that you knew which girl I was going to pick.”

“And i still do.” Holt said. Jake opened his mouth to speak again before Holt interrupted him. “I think that you also know which girl you want to pick.”

“Yeah but-”

“You never wanted to be king.” Holt continued not letting Jake speak. “I don’t mean to be rude but I think everyone on this island knows that you wouldn’t have been a good king.”

“Excuse me?” 

“Even you knew that you weren’t going to be a good king. You never wanted it.”

“I know that.”

“Has it ever occured to you, Jake, that there is a reason that Amy showed up for this selection. Did you really think that your parents were going to let you chose her? She was never going to be Queen, and now you will never be King.”

Jake watched the man the puzzle pieces finally fiting togother in his brain. “You knew.” he stated.

“Of course I knew.” Holt said. “Your sister is going to make one hell of a queen and now you get to be happy with Amy. Everything works out in the end dosen’t it?”

\-------

Amy watched Jake walk off the stage whispers filing the room. He abdicated the throne echoing through Amy’s mind. “Who gets the crown now?” One person asked. “I think Gina does”. Someone else responded. “We wasted so much time on him.” She heard someone else say. Amy quickly made her way out of the room, passing by people who were all whispering about what was going outside. Outside the room she was finally able to breath again.

She walked outside and began making her way towards the fountain that they used to always go to. This time tomorrow she was going to be at home and miserable. Why didn’t he just tell her. Why did she spend the last twelve weeks competing for him when he was just going to leave at the end. 

She sat down on the edge of the fountain and put her head in her hands and cried. There wasn’t going to be anyone out here to see her cry, they were all inside trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

She didn't know how long she had been siting out there when she heard him call out to her. “Ames.” She turned around and saw Jake standing near the other end of the fountain. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m not.” Amy lied wiping her face. “I’m fine.” Jake sat down next to her. “Congratulations I guess.”

“On what?”

“Your new found freedom.” Amy said. “No longer shackled to the King title.”

“Oh yeah.” Jake said shrugging. 

“I thought you would be more happy.” Amy said.

“I did too.” Jake agreed.

“Why did you tell me that you were going to chose Sophia if you were really going to abdicate?” Amy asked.

“When you asked me I thought that I was going to chose Sophia and i wasn’t happy about it, but then when we were playing chess something just kind of clicked in my mind.” He said. 

“What are you going to do now that you’re not a prince?”

“I don’t know.” Jake responded. “I”m going to live a little. Not be so proper. Start cursing for absolutely no reason other than say the words that I’ve banned from saying my entire life.” Despite everything Amy still found herself laughing. “I’m going to buy a little house down on the water somewhere.”

“Sounds nice.” Amy said. 

“It will be.” Jake agreed. “Go fishing every morning even though I absolutely hate fishing. Who knows maybe I'll even start playing golf."

“Like you have the patience for golf .” Amy said with a slight laugh.

“Shut up.” Jake said pushing her lightly on the shoulder before getting serious again. “I'm going to meet a girl, one who my parents don’t have to approve of. Fall in love. Get married. Everything will be perfect.”

“Well.” Amy said. “I wish you luck.” 

“Thanks.” Jake said before getting down on knee in front of her. “Ames.” He said. “Will you be that girl. I’m already in love, I’ve already got a ring I just need you to say yes.”

Amy stared down at him for a second trying to understand everything that had just unfolded. "Is this for real?"

"Yes." Jake said trying not to laugh. "You said that you wanted me and didn’t want the crown. Well here you go. Will you marry me and make me the happiest man on Earth.”

Amy smiled down at him. “Yes.” Amy said. “There’s nothing in the world that I would love so much as marrying you.” Jake stood up from where he was keanling and slid the ring onto her finger. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him “I love you and I can not wait to be married to you.”


	18. Past Lives Couldn’t Ever Hold Me Down

**Three Years Later**

“Wake up you moron.” Amy said hitting Jake with a pillow across the face.

“Ah what the hell Ames.” Jake said bolting upright in bed. “What was that for?”

“I’ve told you to get up like twenty times now. Get up!” She yelled at him again.

“Not until I get a good morning kiss.” 

Amy sighed at how childish her husband could be sometimes. “Fine.” She said leaning down and kissing him. She closed her eyes for a second feeling swept up in the moment. She felt his hand move down to her waist as he tried to pull her in bed with him. “Nope.” she said standing up right.

“Come on.” Jake whined. 

“Your breakfast is getting cold.” She shouted at him from the kitchen

“Did you make it?” Jake called back. “If you made it I’m not eating it.”

“Pretty hard to screw up Eggos.” Amy yelled back. “Although I did burn the first two.” She said and Jake burst out laughing getting out of bed and heading towards the kitchen with her.

“You trying to kill me?” Jake asked grabbing the waffle and dipping it into a bowl of syrup.

“Busted!” Amy said. “What are you wearing today?”

“Jeans.” Jake said. “I really don’t care enough to get dressed up.”

“Jake.” Amy said. “They are still your parents.”

“Are you really going to defend them Ames?” Jake asked. “They wanted me to get married to Elizabeth or Sophia. They legit told me that I was not allowed to marry you because you weren't good enough for them.”

“When you put it that way it really makes me not want to go.”

“Then let’s not go.” Jake said grabbing her hand. “Let’s stay here all day. We can go out on the boat have a nice day to ourselves.” He ran his thumb over the back of her hand praying that he was going to convince her. “Please for me?”

“You know that we have to go.” Amy said. “If for no other reason because we told Charles that we were going to be there and I think that he would actually be crushed if we didn't it go.”

“True.” Jake said before sighing in frustration. “God how are you always right?”

Amy only shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll be back.”

“Kay.” Jake said as Amy got up and headed into their bedroom. He watched her go still not believing that she was his wife. _His wife._ She was Amy and he was Jake. Not King Jacob and Queen Amelia. God that sounded awful.

“Jake!” Amy yelled at him sounding angry. Jake got up from where he was sitting and made his way to their bedroom where Amy was standing glaring at the bed. “What the hell is this?”

“Sheets?” Jake asked.

“Were these on the bed last night?”

“Yeah?” Jake said confused. “Do you not like them? I saw them and I thought of you when I bought them.”

“They’re cute.” Amy said looking down at the polar bears. “But you put them on the bed horribly. I’ve never seen a bed made so made.”

“Oh my bad.” Jake said. “You know that someone has put sheets on my bed my entire life.”

“Shut up.” Amy said hitting him slightly. “Go get dressed, I’ll fix the bed.”

“You’re the best.” Jake said before heading into their closet. Amy on the other hand fixed the cutest polar bear sheets that she’s ever seen.

“Ready?” Jake asked her stepping outside in the typical plaid shirt and jeans that she had grown so accustomed to seeing him wearing.

“Yeah. You’re driving.” 

“Sounds good.” Jake said grabbing her hand and leading her out to the car. “I love you.” He said looking over at her from the driver’s seat. 

“I love you too.” Amy said giving his hand and affectionate squeeze.

“I still can’t figure out how I got so lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are finally at the end!! Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments!!! Hopefully my next story will be out fairly soon :)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)


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